Medicine by Alexandros G.Sfakianakis: 08/31/16

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is an important biomarker that can be used to evaluate aflatoxin exposure in both humans and animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the exposure degree of infants to AFM1 through consumption of breast milk and infant powdered milk in Brazil. For this purpose, the estimated daily intake (EDI) for infants was calculated based on the AFM1 levels analyzed in 94 breast milk (BM) samples collected in Southern Brazil, and 16 infant powdered milk (IPM) samples commonly commercialized in Brazil. AFM1 was detected in 5.3% (n = 5) and 43.8% (n = 7) of BM and IPM samples, with mean levels of 0.003 ng/g and 0.011 ng/g, respectively. All the IPM samples showed AFM1 levels lower than those established by the Brazilian guidelines (5 ng/g), and in most of the samples (81.25%) levels were below the maximum limit tolerated by the European Commission (0.025 ng/g). The EDI of AFM1 for infants aged zero to 12 months old showed values from 0.018 to 0.069 ng/kg body weight/day for BM, and 0.078 to 0.306 ng/kg body weight/day for IPM. Hazard index (HI) values for BM and IPM were less than one, except for IPM intended for infants up to one month. In conclusion, the exposure of infants to AFM1 was low, but continuous monitoring of mycotoxin levels is essential to minimize infant health risk.

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IJMS, Vol. 17, Pages 1438: PMEL Amyloid Fibril Formation: The Bright Steps of Pigmentation

In pigment cells, melanin synthesis takes place in specialized organelles, called melanosomes. The biogenesis and maturation of melanosomes is initiated by an unpigmented step that takes place prior to the initiation of melanin synthesis and leads to the formation of luminal fibrils deriving from the pigment cell-specific pre-melanosomal protein (PMEL). In the lumen of melanosomes, PMEL fibrils optimize sequestration and condensation of the pigment melanin. Interestingly, PMEL fibrils have been described to adopt a typical amyloid-like structure. In contrast to pathological amyloids often associated with neurodegenerative diseases, PMEL fibrils represent an emergent category of physiological amyloids due to their beneficial cellular functions. The formation of PMEL fibrils within melanosomes is tightly regulated by diverse mechanisms, such as PMEL traffic, cleavage and sorting. These mechanisms revealed increasing analogies between the formation of physiological PMEL fibrils and pathological amyloid fibrils. In this review we summarize the known mechanisms of PMEL fibrillation and discuss how the recent understanding of physiological PMEL amyloid formation may help to shed light on processes involved in pathological amyloid formation.

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IJMS, Vol. 17, Pages 1434: Importance of Estrogenic Signaling and Its Mediated Receptors in Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) treatment was first established by Huggins and Hodges in 1941, primarily described as androgen deprivation via interference of testicular androgen production. The disease remains incurable with relapse of hormone-refractory cancer after treatments. Epidemiological and clinical studies disclosed the importance of estrogens in PCa. Discovery of estrogen receptor ERβ prompted direct estrogenic actions, in conjunction with ERα, on PCa cells. Mechanistically, ERs upon ligand binding transactivate target genes at consensus genomic sites via interactions with various transcriptional co-regulators to mold estrogenic signaling. With animal models, Noble revealed estrogen dependencies of PCa, providing insight into potential uses of antiestrogens in the treatment. Subsequently, various clinical trials were conducted and molecular and functional consequences of antiestrogen treatment in PCa were delineated. Besides, estrogens can also trigger rapid non-genomic signaling responses initiated at the plasma membrane, at least partially via an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor GPR30. Activation of GPR30 significantly inhibited in vitro and in vivo PCa cell growth and the underlying mechanism was elucidated. Currently, molecular networks of estrogenic and antiestrogenic signaling via ERα, ERβ and GPR30 in PCa have not been fully deciphered. This crucial information could be beneficial to further developments of effective estrogen- and antiestrogen-based therapy for PCa patients.

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IJMS, Vol. 17, Pages 1428: A New Folding Kinetic Mechanism for Human Transthyretin and the Influence of the Amyloidogenic V30M Mutation

Protein aggregation into insoluble amyloid fibrils is the hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases, chief among them Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Although caused by different proteins, these pathologies share some basic molecular mechanisms with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), a rare hereditary neuropathy caused by amyloid formation and deposition by transthyretin (TTR) in the peripheral and autonomic nervous systems. Among the amyloidogenic TTR mutations known, V30M-TTR is the most common in FAP. TTR amyloidogenesis (ATTR) is triggered by tetramer dissociation, followed by partial unfolding and aggregation of the low conformational stability monomers formed. Thus, tetramer dissociation kinetics, monomer conformational stability and competition between refolding and aggregation pathways do play a critical role in ATTR. Here, we propose a new model to analyze the refolding kinetics of WT-TTR and V30M-TTR, showing that at pH and protein concentrations close to physiological, a two-step mechanism with a unimolecular first step followed by a second-order second step adjusts well to the experimental data. Interestingly, although sharing the same kinetic mechanism, V30M-TTR refolds at a much slower rate than WT-TTR, a feature that may favor the formation of transient species leading to kinetic partition into amyloidogenic pathways and, thus, significantly increasing the probability of amyloid formation in vivo.

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Sustainability, Vol. 8, Pages 857: The Multilevel Index Decomposition of Energy-Related Carbon Emission and Its Decoupling with Economic Growth in USA

The United States of America is not only an important energy consuming country, but also in the dominant position of energy for many years. As one of the two largest emitters, the US has always been trying to register a decline in energy-related CO2. In order to make a further analysis of the phenomenon, we choose a new decoupling analysis with the multilevel logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method. This study examined the contribution of factors influencing energy-related carbon emissions in the United States of America during 1990–2014, quantitatively analyzed decoupling indicators of economic development and environmental situations. As is indicated in the results, economy development and activities have a significant effect in increasing carbon emission, however, measures of energy optimization such as the improvement of energy efficiency has played a crucial role in inhibiting the carbon dioxide emission. Furthermore, as is indicated in decoupling relationship, "relative decoupling" and "no decoupling" are the main states during the examined period. In order to better investigate the long-run equilibrium relationship between total carbon dioxide emissions of each effect and the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth, on the basis of a static decomposition analysis, we applied a dynamic analysis method-cointegration test. At last, recommendations and improvement measures aiming at the related issues were put forward.

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Nutrients, Vol. 8, Pages 534: Effects of a Short-Term High-Nitrate Diet on Exercise Performance

It has been reported that nitrate supplementation can improve exercise performance. Most of the studies have used either beetroot juice or sodium nitrate as a supplement; there is lack of data on the potential ergogenic benefits of an increased dietary nitrate intake from a diet based on fruits and vegetables. Our aim was to assess whether a high-nitrate diet increases nitric oxide bioavailability and to evaluate the effects of this nutritional intervention on exercise performance. Seven healthy male subjects participated in a randomized cross-over study. They were tested before and after 6 days of a high (HND) or control (CD) nitrate diet (~8.2 mmol∙day−1 or ~2.9 mmol∙day−1, respectively). Plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations were significantly higher in HND (127 ± 64 µM and 350 ± 120 nM, respectively) compared to CD (23 ± 10 µM and 240 ± 100 nM, respectively). In HND (vs. CD) were observed: (a) a significant reduction of oxygen consumption during moderate-intensity constant work-rate cycling exercise (1.178 ± 0.141 vs. 1.269 ± 0.136 L·min−1); (b) a significantly higher total muscle work during fatiguing, intermittent sub-maximal isometric knee extension (357.3 ± 176.1 vs. 253.6 ± 149.0 Nm·s·kg−1); (c) an improved performance in Repeated Sprint Ability test. These findings suggest that a high-nitrate diet could be a feasible and effective strategy to improve exercise performance.

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Forests, Vol. 7, Pages 194: Developing an Improved Parameter Estimation Method for the Segmented Taper Equation through Combination of Constrained Two-Dimensional Optimum Seeking and Least Square Regression

The segmented taper equation has great flexibility and is widely applied in exiting taper systems. The unconstrained least square regression (ULSR) was generally used to estimate parameters in previous applications of the segmented taper equations. The joint point parameters estimated with ULSR may fall outside the feasible region, which leads to the results of the segmented taper equation being uncertain and meaningless. In this study, a combined method of constrained two-dimensional optimum seeking and least square regression (CTOS & LSR) was proposed as an improved method to estimate the parameters in the segmented taper equation. The CTOS & LSR was compared with ULSR for both individual tree-level equation and the population average-level equation using data from three tropical precious tree species (Castanopsis hystrix, Erythrophleum fordii, and Tectona grandis) in the southwest of China. The differences between CTOS & LSR and ULSR were found to be significant. The segmented taper equation estimated using CTOS & LSR resulted in not only increased prediction accuracy, but also guaranteed the parameter estimates in a more meaningful way. It is thus recommended that the combined method of constrained two-dimensional optimum seeking and least square regression should be a preferred choice for this application. The computation procedures required for this method is presented in the article.

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Games, Vol. 7, Pages 23: Trait Emotional Intelligence Is Related to Risk Taking when Adolescents Make Deliberative Decisions

Most forms of risky behavior reach their peak during adolescence. A prominent line of research is exploring the relationship between people's emotional self-efficacy and risk taking, but little is known about this relationship in the cognitive-deliberative domain among adolescents. The main aim of the present study consists in investigating whether trait EI (Emotional Intelligence) is positively related to risk taking under predominantly cognitive-deliberative conditions among adolescents. Ninety-four adolescents played the cold version of the Columbia Card Task one month following an assessment of their trait EI. Results showed that trait EI is associated with risk taking under cognitive-deliberative conditions among adolescents. Moreover, the present research showed that trait EI is related to risk taking through the decision makers' self-motivation. These results provide novel insights into research investigating the connections between emotional intelligence, decision science and adolescence research.

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Materials, Vol. 9, Pages 742: Electricity Recovery from Municipal Sewage Wastewater Using a Hydrogel Complex Composed of Microbially Reduced Graphene Oxide and Sludge

Graphene oxide (GO) has recently been shown to be an excellent anode substrate for exoelectrogens. This study demonstrates the applicability of GO in recovering electricity from sewage wastewater. Anaerobic incubation of sludge with GO formed a hydrogel complex that embeds microbial cells via π-π stacking of microbially reduced GO. The rGO complex was electrically conductive (23 mS·cm−1) and immediately produced electricity in sewage wastewater under polarization at +200 mV vs. Ag/AgCl. Higher and more stable production of electricity was observed with rGO complexes (179–310 μA·cm−3) than with graphite felt (GF; 79–95 μA·cm−3). Electrochemical analyses revealed that this finding was attributable to the greater capacitance and smaller internal resistance of the rGO complex. Microbial community analysis showed abundances of Geobacter species in both rGO and GF complexes, whereas more diverse candidate exoelectrogens in the Desulfarculaceae family and Geothrix genus were particularly prominent in the rGO complex.

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Role of Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIR in the Growth and Apoptosis of Osteosarcoma Cell MG-63

This study investigated the function of HOTAIR in the growth and apoptosis of OS MG-63 cell line in vitro and further clarified its mechanism. The expression levels of HOTAIR in OS MG-63 cell line and normal osteoblast hFOB1.19 cell line were determined by RT-PCR, respectively. The growth and apoptosis of MG-63 cells in vitro were investigated by MTT assay and flow cytometry assay after HOTAIR was knocked down with retroviral vector construction. And the expression levels of cell growth and apoptosis related factors TGF-β, p53, Bcl-2, and TNF-α were determined to clarify the mechanism. We found that HOTAIR was highly expressed in osteosarcoma MG-63 cell line compared with normal osteoblast hFOB1.19 cell line. The proliferation rate was lower and the apoptosis rate was higher significantly in shHOTAIR MG-63 cells than those in EV MG-63 cells. TGF-β and Bcl-2 were downregulated significantly when HOTAIR was knocked down. p53 and TNF-α were upregulated significantly when HOTAIR was knocked down. These results indicated that HOTAIR functioned as a carcinogenic lncRNA, which could promote the proliferation and inhibit the apoptosis of MG-63 cells in vitro. HOTAIR could be a potential target for the treatment of osteosarcoma.

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Agriculture, Vol. 6, Pages 43: Policies Supporting Local Food in the United States

Local food has been the subject of federal, state, and local government policies in recent years throughout the United States as consumer demand has grown. Local foods have been linked to several government priorities—including enhancing the rural economy, the environment, and supporting agricultural producers. This article provides an overview of U.S. Federal, State and regional policies designed to support local food systems. It details the latest economic information on policy, relying on findings from several national surveys and a synthesis of recent literature. Federal policies related to local food systems were greatly expanded by the 2008 Farm Bill, and are further expanded in the Agricultural Act of 2014. United States policies address several barriers to the further expansion of local food markets, including scaling up output of small farms to address the needs of larger commercial outlets, lack of infrastructure for increasing local food sales, ability to trace product source, and producer education regarding local food expansion.

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Agriculture, Vol. 6, Pages 42: Irrigation Analysis Based on Long-Term Weather Data

Irrigation management is based upon delivery of water to a crop in the correct amount and time, and the crop's water need is determined by calculating evapotranspiration (ET) using weather data. In 1994, an ET-network was established in the Texas High Plains to manage irrigation on a regional scale. Though producers used the ET-network, by 2010 public access was discontinued. Why did producers allow a valuable irrigation-management tool to be eliminated? Our objective was to analyze the effect of declining well capacities on the usefulness of cotton ET (ETc) for irrigation. Thirty years (1975–2004) of daily ETc data were used to compare irrigation demand vs. irrigation responses at four locations, analyzed for multiple years and range of well capacities for three irrigation-intervals. Results indicated that when well capacities declined to the point that over-irrigation was not possible, the lower well capacities reduced the value of ETc in terms of the number of irrigations and total amount of water applied. At well capacities <1514 L·min−1 the fraction of irrigations for which ETc information was used to determine the irrigation amount was <35% across years and irrigation intervals. The value of an ETc-based irrigation may fall into disuse when irrigation-water supplies decline.

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Energies, Vol. 9, Pages 694: Thermodynamic Simulation on the Performance of Twin Screw Expander Applied in Geothermal Power Generation

A three-dimensional (3D) geometry model of twin screw expander has been developed in this paper to measure and analyze geometric parameters such as groove volume, suction port area, and leakage area, which can be described as functions of rotation angle of male rotor. Taking the suction loss, leakage loss, and real gas effect into consideration, a thermodynamic model is developed using continuity and energy conservation equation. The developed model is verified by comparing predicted results of power output and internal efficiency with experimental data. Based on the model, the relationship between mass flow rate through inlet port and leakage path with rotation angle of male rotor as well as effects of the inlet parameter and operating parameter on the performance of the expander are analyzed.

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Games, Vol. 7, Pages 22: Auctions Versus Private Negotiations in Buyer-Seller Networks

Buyer-seller networks where price is determined by an ascending-bid auction are important in many economic examples such as certain real estate markets, radio spectrum sharing, and buyer-supplier networks. However, it may be that some sellers are better off not participating in the auction. We consider what happens if sellers can make a take it or leave it offer to one of their linked buyers before the auction takes place and thus such a seller can choose not to participate in the auction. We give conditions on the graph and buyers valuations under which the buyer and seller will both agree to such a take it or leave it offer. Specifically, the buyer-seller pair will choose private negotiation over the auction if the seller acts as a network bridge with power over the buyer and if there are enough buyers with low valuations so that the seller does not expect to receive a high price in the auction.

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Sustainability, Vol. 8, Pages 873: Risk vs. Reward: A Methodology to Assess Investment in Marine Energy

The majority of WEC (wave energy converter) projects are expensive and pose a large risk to a developer. Currently no developers have been successful in commercialising a WEC. So far, many wave energy feasibility studies have only considered the LCOE (levelised cost of electricity), assessing investment in marine energy technologies from a purely financial point of view. No previous studies have, however, explicitly accounted for development risk as well as the LCOE to determine the feasibility of a project. This paper proposes a new methodology that can be used to account for both risk and the LCOE to give a clearer picture of the feasibility of a WEC development. By combining the LCOE and risk score for a particular development, the "value for risk" can be calculated, presented here as the "RR ratio" ("Risk/Reward ratio"). A number of case studies were chosen to test the model, investigating the RR ratio for a number of different WEC technologies and ranking them to suggest an optimal development path for the industry. Results showed that projects that combine many innovative technologies provide the best "value for risk". These devices overall had the highest risk, suggesting that multiple developers are likely required to collaborate in order to reduce the risk down to acceptable levels for each.

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Sensors, Vol. 16, Pages 1385: Adaptive Sampling-Based Information Collection for Wireless Body Area Networks

To collect important health information, WBAN applications typically sense data at a high frequency. However, limited by the quality of wireless link, the uploading of sensed data has an upper frequency. To reduce upload frequency, most of the existing WBAN data collection approaches collect data with a tolerable error. These approaches can guarantee precision of the collected data, but they are not able to ensure that the upload frequency is within the upper frequency. Some traditional sampling based approaches can control upload frequency directly, however, they usually have a high loss of information. Since the core task of WBAN applications is to collect health information, this paper aims to collect optimized information under the limitation of upload frequency. The importance of sensed data is defined according to information theory for the first time. Information-aware adaptive sampling is proposed to collect uniformly distributed data. Then we propose Adaptive Sampling-based Information Collection (ASIC) which consists of two algorithms. An adaptive sampling probability algorithm is proposed to compute sampling probabilities of different sensed values. A multiple uniform sampling algorithm provides uniform samplings for values in different intervals. Experiments based on a real dataset show that the proposed approach has higher performance in terms of data coverage and information quantity. The parameter analysis shows the optimized parameter settings and the discussion shows the underlying reason of high performance in the proposed approach.

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Sensors, Vol. 16, Pages 1390: An Effective Cuckoo Search Algorithm for Node Localization in Wireless Sensor Network

Localization is an essential requirement in the increasing prevalence of wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. Reducing the computational complexity, communication overhead in WSN localization is of paramount importance in order to prolong the lifetime of the energy-limited sensor nodes and improve localization performance. This paper proposes an effective Cuckoo Search (CS) algorithm for node localization. Based on the modification of step size, this approach enables the population to approach global optimal solution rapidly, and the fitness of each solution is employed to build mutation probability for avoiding local convergence. Further, the approach restricts the population in the certain range so that it can prevent the energy consumption caused by insignificant search. Extensive experiments were conducted to study the effects of parameters like anchor density, node density and communication range on the proposed algorithm with respect to average localization error and localization success ratio. In addition, a comparative study was conducted to realize the same localization task using the same network deployment. Experimental results prove that the proposed CS algorithm can not only increase convergence rate but also reduce average localization error compared with standard CS algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm.

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Toxins, Vol. 8, Pages 246: Exposure Assessment of Infants to Aflatoxin M1 through Consumption of Breast Milk and Infant Powdered Milk in Brazil

IJMS, Vol. 17, Pages 1428: A New Folding Kinetic Mechanism for Human Transthyretin and the Influence of the Amyloidogenic V30M Mutation

Metals, Vol. 6, Pages 207: The Electrochemical Investigation of the Corrosion Rates of Welded Pipe ASTM A106 Grade B

The aim of this work was to investigate the corrosion rate of welded carbon steel pipe (ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) A106 Grade B) by GTAW under the currents of 60, 70, and 80 A. All welded pipes satisfied weld procedure specifications and were verified by a procedure qualification record. The property of used materials was in agreement with the ASME standard: section IX. The welded pipe was used for schematic model corrosion measurements applied in 3.5 wt % NaCl at various flow rates and analyzed by using the electrochemical technique with Tafel's equation. The results showed the correlation between the flow rate and the corrosion rate of the pipe; the greater the flow rate, the higher corrosion rate. Moreover, the welded pipe from the welding current of 70 A exhibited higher tensile strength and corrosion resistance than those from currents of 60 and 80 A. It indicated that the welding current of 70 A produced optimum heat for the welding of A106 pipe grade B. In addition, the microstructure of the welded pipe was observed by SEM. The phase transformation and crystallite size were analyzed by XRD and Sherrer's equation. The results suggested that the welding current could change the microstructure and phase of the welded pipe causing change in the corrosion rate.

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Sustainability, Vol. 8, Pages 875: Integrating Economic and Ecological Benchmarking for a Sustainable Development of Hydropower

Hydropower reservoirs play an increasingly important role for the global electricity supply. Reservoirs are anthropogenically-dominated ecosystems because hydropower operations induce artificial water level fluctuations (WLF) that exceed natural fluctuations in frequency and amplitude. These WLF have detrimental ecological effects, which can be quantified as losses to ecosystem primary production due to lake bottoms that fall dry. To allow for a sustainable development of hydropower, these "ecological costs" of WLF need to be weighed against the "economic benefits" of hydropower that can balance and store intermittent renewable energy. We designed an economic hydropower operation model to derive WLF in large and small reservoirs for three different future energy market scenarios and quantified the according losses in ecosystem primary production in semi-natural outdoor experiments. Our results show that variations in market conditions affect WLF differently in small and large hydropower reservoirs and that increasing price volatility magnified WLF and reduced primary production. Our model allows an assessment of the trade-off between the objectives of preserving environmental resources and economic development, which lies at the core of emerging sustainability issues.

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Metals, Vol. 6, Pages 209: Simulation Study on Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Process of 800 MPa-Grade Steel for Hydropower Penstocks

The thermo-mechanical controlled process (TMCP) of 800-MPa-grade non-quenched tempered steel used for penstocks was simulated on a Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator. The effect of the finish cooling temperature (FCT) which ranged from 350–550 °C on the microstructure and mechanical properties was studied. The microstructure of TMCP specimens is primarily composed of lath bainite (LB) and granular bainite (GB). The decreased FCT can induce the increase of LB and the decrease of GB in the volume fraction, and the decrease in the amount and the size of Martensite/Austenite (M/A) constituents with a more dispersive distribution. The LB has higher strength and hardness than GB, and the GB with fine and dispersive M/A constituents has excellent impact toughness. The minimum values of the yield strength, tensile strength and hardness, and the maximum value of the impact absorbed energy are obtained for the FCT of 450 °C. For the FCT over 450 °C, the yield strength, tensile strength and hardness are increased slightly, but the impact absorbed energy is rapidly decreased, which is mainly attributed to the formation of block M/A constituents. When the FCT is around 400 °C, the optimal combination of yield strength and impact toughness is obtained, which meets the technical requirements of 800-MPa-grade hydropower penstock steel.

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Sustainability, Vol. 8, Pages 872: Effect of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Measures on Active Living and Fear of Crime

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) has become a popular urban planning approach to preventing crime and mitigating fear of crime through the improvement of physical neighborhood environments. CPTED is widely used to improve deteriorated neighborhoods that suffer from crime. However, few studies have empirically examined the complex relationships among CPTED, fear of crime, and active living. Our study, therefore, investigated the effects of CPTED measures on walking frequency and fear of crime, analyzing behavioral data of residents living in participatory neighborhood regeneration areas and matched neighborhoods. We analyzed survey data from 12 neighborhoods that implemented CPTED approaches and 12 matched neighborhoods in Seoul, Korea, using structural equation modeling, which could consistently estimate complex direct and indirect relationships between a latent variable (fear of crime) and observable variables (CPTED measures and walking frequency). We designed the survey instrument as a smartphone app. Participants were recruited from 102 locations within the 24 selected neighborhoods; in total, 623 individuals returned surveys. The results revealed that sufficient closed-circuit television, street lighting, and maintenance played a significant role in mitigating fear of crime. This study has implications for planning and policy issues related to CPTED, mental health, and active living.

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Foods, Vol. 5, Pages 60: Correlations between Polyacetylene Concentrations in Carrot (Daucus carota L.) and Various Soil Parameters

This study assessed the concentrations of three falcarinol-type polyacetylenes (falcarinol, falcarindiol, falcarindiol-3-acetate) in carrots and the correlations between these and different soil traits. A total of 144 carrot samples, from three different harvests taken a single season, were analysed in terms of their polyacetylene concentrations and root development. On one of the harvesting occasions, 48 soil samples were also taken and analysed. The chemical composition of the soil was found to influence the concentrations of falcarinol-type polyacetylenes in carrots. When the total soil potassium level was 200 mg/100 g soil, the concentration of falcarindiol (FaDOH) in the carrot samples was 630 μg/g DW, but when carrots were grown in soil with a total potassium level of 300 mg/100 g soil, the FaDOH concentration in the carrots fell to 445 μg/g DW. Carrots grown in soils generally low in available phosphorus exhibited higher levels of falcarindiol if the soil was also low in available magnesium and calcium. The concentrations of polyacetylenes in carrots were positively correlated with total soil phosphorus level, but negatively correlated with total soil potassium level. Of the three polyacetylenes analysed, FaDOH concentrations were influenced most by changes in soil chemical composition.

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Veterinary Sciences, Vol. 3, Pages 20: Ehrlichioses: An Important One Health Opportunity

Ehrlichioses are caused by obligately intracellular bacteria that are maintained subclinically in a persistently infected vertebrate host and a tick vector. The most severe life-threatening illnesses, such as human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis and heartwater, occur in incidental hosts. Ehrlichia have a developmental cycle involving an infectious, nonreplicating, dense core cell and a noninfectious, replicating reticulate cell. Ehrlichiae secrete proteins that bind to host cytoplasmic proteins and nuclear chromatin, manipulating the host cell environment to their advantage. Severe disease in immunocompetent hosts is mediated in large part by immunologic and inflammatory mechanisms, including overproduction of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), which is produced by CD8 T lymphocytes, and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Immune components that contribute to control of ehrlichial infection include CD4 and CD8 T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-12, and antibodies. Some immune components, such as TNF-α, perforin, and CD8 T cells, play both pathogenic and protective roles. In contrast with the immunocompetent host, which may die with few detectable organisms owing to the overly strong immune response, immunodeficient hosts die with overwhelming infection and large quantities of organisms in the tissues. Vaccine development is challenging because of antigenic diversity of E. ruminantium, the necessity of avoiding an immunopathologic response, and incomplete knowledge of the protective antigens.

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JMSE, Vol. 4, Pages 54: STORMTOOLS: Coastal Environmental Risk Index (CERI)

One of the challenges facing coastal zone managers and municipal planners is the development of an objective, quantitative assessment of the risk to structures, infrastructure, and public safety that coastal communities face from storm surge in the presence of changing climatic conditions, particularly sea level rise and coastal erosion. Here we use state of the art modeling tool (ADCIRC and STWAVE) to predict storm surge and wave, combined with shoreline change maps (erosion), and damage functions to construct a Coastal Environmental Risk Index (CERI). Access to the state emergency data base (E-911) provides information on structure characteristics and the ability to perform analyses for individual structures. CERI has been designed as an on line Geographic Information System (GIS) based tool, and hence is fully compatible with current flooding maps, including those from FEMA. The basic framework and associated GIS methods can be readily applied to any coastal area. The approach can be used by local and state planners to objectively evaluate different policy options for effectiveness and cost/benefit. In this study, CERI is applied to RI two communities; Charlestown representing a typical coastal barrier system directly exposed to ocean waves and high erosion rates, with predominantly low density single family residences and Warwick located within Narragansett Bay, with more limited wave exposure, lower erosion rates, and higher residential housing density. Results of these applications are highlighted herein.

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Forests, Vol. 7, Pages 192: Variation in the Growth Traits and Wood Properties of Chinese Fir from Six Provinces of Southern China

To determine the phenotypic variation in 700 ten-year grafted Chinese fir collected from six provinces in southern China, 10 phenotypic traits were investigated: tree height, diameter at breast height, bark thickness, volume of timber, heartwood ratio, density of wood, hygroscopicity, tracheid length, tracheid diameter, and ratio of tracheid length to tracheid diameter. Abundant phenotypic variation was found among the six populations; the phenotypic variation coefficients all exceeded 10%, and the largest was for volume of timber. Significant variation (p < 0.01 or 0.05) in traits was found among the populations, except for diameter at breast height, heartwood ratio, and tracheid diameter, while all traits differed significantly (p < 0.01) within populations. The high value of repeatability (broad-sense heritability) suggested moderate genetic control of the traits. The 10 traits were strongly correlated within the entire population; strong positive correlations (p < 0.01) were observed between growth traits, and significant negative correlations (p < 0.01 or 0.05) were found between the density of wood and most other characteristics, except for heartwood ratio and ratio of tracheid length to tracheid diameter. Using diameter at breast height and density of wood as criteria, 98 relatively fast-growing genotypes with relatively high wood basic density were identified.

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Acute Oral Mammalian Toxicity and Effect of Solvents on Efficacy of Maerua edulis (Gilg. & Ben.) De Wolf against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus Koch, 1844 (Acarina: Ixodidae), Tick Larvae

Efficacy and toxicity of aqueous and organic solvents extracts of Maerua edulis against ticks and mice, respectively, were determined. Ground leaves were extracted separately using cold water, cold water plus surfactant (1% v/v liquid soap), hot water plus surfactant, hexane, or methanol to make 25% w/v stock solutions from which serial dilutions of 5, 10, 20, and 25% were made. For each concentration, 20 Rhipicephalus decoloratus tick larvae were put in filter papers impregnated with extracts and incubated for 48 h at 27°C and 85–90% RH for mortality observation after 24 h and 48 h. In the toxicity experiment, hot water plus surfactant treatments of 5, 10, 20, and 25% (w/v) M. edulis were administered in suspension per os to sexually mature Balb/C mice and observed for clinical signs and mortality for 72 h. Larvae mortality was highest (>98%) in methanol-extracted M. edulis treatments (20 and 25%), which was not different from the amitraz-based control (Tickbuster®). Mortality was also higher in the hot water than in cold water plus surfactant treatments (). No postadministration adverse health effects were observed in the mice. These results suggest that M. edulis is an effective tick remedy best extracted using methanol or hot water plus surfactant.

http://ift.tt/2bB68Zu

Male foraging efficiency, but not male problem-solving performance, influences female mating preferences in zebra finches

Experimental evidence suggests that females would prefer males with better cognitive abilities as mates. However, little is known about the traits reflecting enhanced cognitive skills on which females might base their mate-choice decisions. In particular, it has been suggested that male foraging performance could be used as an indicator of cognitive capacity, but convincing evidence for this hypothesis is still lacking. In the present study, we investigated whether female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) modify their mating preferences after having observed the performance of males on a problem-solving task. Specifically, we measured the females' preferences between two males once before and once after an observation period, during which their initially preferred male was incapable of solving the task contrary to their initially less-preferred male. We also conducted a control treatment to test whether the shift in female preferences was attributable to differences between the two stimulus males in their foraging efficiency. Finally, we assessed each bird's performance in a color associative task to check whether females can discriminate among males based on their learning speed. We found that females significantly increased their preference toward the most efficient male in both treatments. Yet, there was no difference between the two treatments and we found no evidence that females assess male cognitive ability indirectly via morphological traits. Thus, our results suggest that females would not use the males' problem-solving performance as an indicator of general cognitive ability to gain indirect fitness benefits (i.e., good genes) but rather to assess their foraging efficiency and gain direct benefits.

http://ift.tt/2cq8sbM

Energies, Vol. 9, Pages 693: Enhanced Forecasting Approach for Electricity Market Prices and Wind Power Data Series in the Short-Term

The uncertainty and variability in electricity market price (EMP) signals and players' behavior, as well as in renewable power generation, especially wind power, pose considerable challenges. Hence, enhancement of forecasting approaches is required for all electricity market players to deal with the non-stationary and stochastic nature of such time series, making it possible to accurately support their decisions in a competitive environment with lower forecasting error and with an acceptable computational time. As previously published methodologies have shown, hybrid approaches are good candidates to overcome most of the previous concerns about time-series forecasting. In this sense, this paper proposes an enhanced hybrid approach composed of an innovative combination of wavelet transform (WT), differential evolutionary particle swarm optimization (DEEPSO), and an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to forecast EMP signals in different electricity markets and wind power in Portugal, in the short-term, considering only historical data. Test results are provided by comparing with other reported studies, demonstrating the proficiency of the proposed hybrid approach in a real environment.

http://ift.tt/2c3Iw2o

Molecules, Vol. 21, Pages 1140: Practical and Efficient Synthesis of α-Aminophosphonic Acids Containing 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinoline or 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroisoquinoline Heterocycles

We report here a practical and efficient synthesis of α-aminophosphonic acid incorporated into 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline heterocycles, which could be considered to be conformationally constrained analogues of pipecolic acid. The principal contribution of this synthesis is the introduction of the phosphonate group in the N-acyliminium ion intermediates, obtained from activation of the quinoline and isoquinoline heterocycles or from the appropriate δ-lactam with benzyl chloroformate. Finally, the hydrolysis of phosphonate moiety with simultaneous cleavage of the carbamate afforded the target compounds.

http://ift.tt/2cdLFOX

Animals, Vol. 6, Pages 53: Anicare Book Reviews

The connection between abuse of animals and human interpersonal violence has attracted increasing interest from researchers, professionals and the community in recent decades.[...]

http://ift.tt/2c3KhfC

IJMS, Vol. 17, Pages 1434: Importance of Estrogenic Signaling and Its Mediated Receptors in Prostate Cancer

Genome-wide identification and characterization of GRAS transcription factors in sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)

The GRAS gene family is one of the most important plant-specific gene families, which encodes transcriptional regulators and plays an essential role in plant development and physiological processes. The GRAS gene family has been well characterized in many higher plants such as Arabidopsis, rice, Chinese cabbage, tomato and tobacco. In this study, we identified 38 GRAS genes in sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), analyzed their physical and chemical characteristics and performed phylogenetic analysis using the GRAS genes from eight representative plant species to show the evolution of GRAS genes in Planta. In addition, the gene structures and motifs of the sacred lotus GRAS proteins were characterized in detail. Comparative analysis identified 42 orthologous and 9 co-orthologous gene pairs between sacred lotus and Arabidopsis, and 35 orthologous and 22 co-orthologous gene pairs between sacred lotus and rice. Based on publically available RNA-seq data generated from leaf, petiole, rhizome and root, we found that most of the sacred lotus GRAS genes exhibited a tissue-specific expression pattern. Eight of the ten PAT1-clade GRAS genes, particularly NnuGRAS-05, NnuGRAS-10 and NnuGRAS-25, were preferentially expressed in rhizome and root. In summary, this is the first in silico analysis of the GRAS gene family in sacred lotus, which will provide valuable information for further molecular and biological analyses of this important gene family.

http://ift.tt/2cq8RLs

Characterization, development and multiplexing of microsatellite markers in three commercially exploited reef fish and their application for stock identification

Thirty-four microsatellite loci were isolated from three reef fish species; golden snapper Lutjanus johnii, blackspotted croaker Protonibea diacanthus and grass emperor Lethrinus laticaudis using a next generation sequencing approach. Both IonTorrent single reads and Illumina MiSeq paired-end reads were used, with the latter demonstrating a higher quality of reads than the IonTorrent. From the 1–1.5 million raw reads per species, we successfully obtained 10–13 polymorphic loci for each species, which satisfied stringent design criteria. We developed multiplex panels for the amplification of the golden snapper and the blackspotted croaker loci, as well as post-amplification pooling panels for the grass emperor loci. The microsatellites characterized in this work were tested across three locations of northern Australia. The microsatellites we developed can detect population differentiation across northern Australia and may be used for genetic structure studies and stock identification.

http://ift.tt/2cq8uAq

Whole gut microbiome composition of damselfish and cardinalfish before and after reef settlement

The Pomacentridae (damselfish) and Apogonidae (cardinalfish) are among the most common fish families on coral reefs and in the aquarium trade. Members of both families undergo a pelagic larvae phase prior to settlement on the reef, where adults play key roles in benthic habitat structuring and trophic interactions. Fish-associated microbial communities (microbiomes) significantly influence fish health and ecology, yet little is known of how microbiomes change with life stage. We quantified the taxonomic (16S rRNA gene) composition of whole gut microbiomes from ten species of damselfish and two species of cardinalfish from Lizard Island, Australia, focusing specifically on comparisons between pelagic larvae prior to settlement on the reef versus post-settlement juvenile and adult individuals. On average, microbiome phylogenetic diversity increased from pre- to post-settlement, and was unrelated to the microbial composition in the surrounding water column. However, this trend varied among species, suggesting stochasticity in fish microbiome assembly. Pre-settlement fish were enriched with bacteria of the Endozoicomonaceae, Shewanellaceae, and Fusobacteriaceae, whereas settled fish harbored higher abundances of Vibrionaceae and Pasteurellaceae. Several individual operational taxonomic units, including ones related to Vibrio harveyi, Shewanella sp., and uncultured Endozoicomonas bacteria, were shared between both pre and post-settlement stages and may be of central importance in the intestinal niche across development. Richness of the core microbiome shared among pre-settlement fish was comparable to that of settled individuals, suggesting that changes in diversity with adulthood are due to the acquisition or loss of host-specific microbes. These results identify a key transition in microbiome structure across host life stage, suggesting changes in the functional contribution of microbiomes over development in two ecologically dominant reef fish families.

http://ift.tt/2cq7QTr

Aquatic insects dealing with dehydration: do desiccation resistance traits differ in species with contrasting habitat preferences?

Background Desiccation resistance shapes the distribution of terrestrial insects at multiple spatial scales. However, responses to drying stress have been poorly studied in aquatic groups, despite their potential role in constraining their distribution and diversification, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Methods We examined desiccation resistance in adults of four congeneric water beetle species (Enochrus, family Hydrophilidae) with contrasting habitat specificity (lentic vs. lotic systems and different salinity optima from fresh- to hypersaline waters). We measured survival, recovery capacity and key traits related to desiccation resistance (fresh mass, % water content, % cuticle content and water loss rate) under controlled exposure to desiccation, and explored their variability within and between species. Results Meso- and hypersaline species were more resistant to desiccation than freshwater and hyposaline ones, showing significantly lower water loss rates and higher water content. No clear patterns in desiccation resistance traits were observed between lotic and lentic species. Intraspecifically, water loss rate was positively related to specimens' initial % water content, but not to fresh mass or % cuticle content, suggesting that the dynamic mechanism controlling water loss is mainly regulated by the amount of body water available. Discussion Our results support previous hypotheses suggesting that the evolution of desiccation resistance is associated with the colonization of saline habitats by aquatic beetles. The interespecific patterns observed in Enochrus also suggest that freshwater species may be more vulnerable than saline ones to drought intensification expected under climate change in semi-arid regions such as the Mediterranean Basin.

http://ift.tt/2cq7FaU

Effect of 8-hydroxyquinoline and derivatives on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells under high glucose

8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives exhibit multifunctional properties, including antioxidant, antineurodegenerative, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities. In biological systems, elevation of intracellular calcium can cause calpain activation, leading to cell death. Here, the effect of 8-hydroxyquinoline and derivatives (5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline or clioquinol and 8-hydroxy-5-nitroquinoline or nitroxoline) on calpain-dependent (calpain-calpastatin) pathways in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells was investigated. 8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives ameliorated high glucose toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. The investigated compounds, particularly clioquinol, attenuated the increased expression of calpain, even under high-glucose conditions. 8-Hydroxyquinoline and derivatives thus adversely affected the promotion of neuronal cell death by high glucose via the calpain-calpastatin signaling pathways. These findings support the beneficial effects of 8-hydroxyquinolines for further therapeutic development.

http://ift.tt/2cq8j8i

Influence of droplet coverage on the electrochemical response of planar microelectrodes and potential solving strategies based on nesting concept

Recently, biosensors have been widely used for the detection of bacteria, viruses and other toxins. Electrodes, as commonly used transducers, are a vital part of electrochemical biosensors. The coverage of the droplets can change significantly based on the hydrophobicity of the microelectrode surface materials. In the present research, screen-printed interdigitated microelectrodes (SPIMs), as one type of planar microelectrode, were applied to investigate the influence of droplet coverage on electrochemical response. Furthermore, three dimensional (3D) printing technology was employed to print smart devices with different diameters based on the nesting concept. Theoretical explanations were proposed to elucidate the influence of the droplet coverage on the electrochemical response. 3D-printed ring devices were used to incubate the SPIMs and the analytical performances of the SPIMs were tested. According to the results obtained, our device successfully improved the stability of the signal responses and eliminated irregular signal changes to a large extent. Our proposed method based on the nesting concept provides a promising method for the fabrication of stable electrochemical biosensors. We also introduced two types of electrode bases to improve the signal stability.

http://ift.tt/2cq7WL2

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Τετάρτη 31 Αυγούστου 2016