United States benefits of improved worldwide wheat crop information from a LANDSAT system

The value of worldwide information improvements on wheat crops, promised by LANDSAT, is measured in the context of world wheat markets. These benefits are based on current LANDSAT technical goals and assume that information is made available to all (United States and other countries) at the same time. A detailed empirical sample demonstration of the effect of improved information is given; the history of wheat commodity prices for 1971-72 is reconstructed and the price changes from improved vs. historical information are compared. The improved crop forecasting from a LANDSAT system assumed include wheat crop estimates of 90 percent accuracy for each major wheat producing region. Accurate, objective worldwide wheat crop information using space systems may have a very stabilizing influence on world commodity markets, in part making possible the establishment of long-term, stable trade relationships

Presentation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 Infection as Cholestatic Jaundice in Two Healthy Adolescents

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Liver abnormalities in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 infection, including hepatitis and cholestasis, have been observed in adults and are associated with worse outcomes. We describe 2 adolescents with cholestasis and hepatitis with mild presentation of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 lacking typical symptoms. Our intention is to raise index of suspicion for testing and protective equipment use

Shifts in microbial communities in soil, rhizosphere and roots of two major crop systems under elevated CO2 and O3

Rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and O3 are key features of global environmental change. To investigate changes in the belowground bacterial community composition in response to elevated CO2 and O3 (eCO2 and eO3) the endosphere, rhizosphere and soil were sampled from soybeans under eCO2 and maize under eO3. The maize rhizosphere and endosphere α-diversity was higher than soybean, which may be due to a high relative abundance of Rhizobiales. Only the rhizosphere microbiome composition of the soybeans changed in response to eCO2, associated with an increased abundance of nitrogen fixing microbes. In maize, the microbiome composition was altered by the genotype and linked to differences in root exudate profiles. The eO3 treatment did not change the microbial communities in the rhizosphere, but altered the soil communities where hybrid maize was grown. In contrast to previous studies that focused exclusively on the soil, this study provides new insights into the effects of plant root exudates on the composition of the belowground microbiome in response to changing atmospheric conditions. Our results demonstrate that plant species and plant genotype were key factors driving the changes in the belowground bacterial community composition in agroecosystems that experience rising levels of atmospheric CO2 and O3

Variables and Strategies in Development of Therapeutic Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing Agents

Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) agents such as ribozymes, RNAi and antisense have substantial potential for gene therapy of human retinal degenerations. These technologies are used to knockdown a specific target RNA and its cognate protein. The disease target mRNA may be a mutant mRNA causing an autosomal dominant retinal degeneration or a normal mRNA that is overexpressed in certain diseases. All PTGS technologies depend upon the initial critical annealing event of the PTGS ligand to the target RNA. This event requires that the PTGS agent is in a conformational state able to support hybridization and that the target have a large and accessible single-stranded platform to allow rapid annealing, although such platforms are rare. We address the biocomplexity that currently limits PTGS therapeutic development with particular emphasis on biophysical variables that influence cellular performance. We address the different strategies that can be used for development of PTGS agents intended for therapeutic translation. These issues apply generally to the development of PTGS agents for retinal, ocular, or systemic diseases. This review should assist the interested reader to rapidly appreciate critical variables in PTGS development and facilitate initial design and testing of such agents against new targets of clinical interest

Ovariectomy results in differential shifts in gut microbiota in low versus high aerobic capacity rats

The increased risk for cardiometabolic disease with the onset of menopause is widely studied and likely precipitated by the decline in endogenous estradiol (E2), yet the precise mechanisms are unknown. The gut microbiome is involved in estrogen metabolism and has been linked to metabolic disease, suggesting its potential involvement in the postmenopausal phenotype. Furthermore, menopause‐associated risk factors, as well as gut ecology, are altered with exercise. Therefore, we studied microbial changes in an ovariectomized (OVX vs. Sham) rat model of high (HCR) and low (LCR) intrinsic aerobic capacity (n = 8–10/group) in relation to changes in body weight/composition, glucose tolerance, and liver triglycerides (TG). Nine weeks after OVX, HCR rats were moderately protected against regional adipose tissue gain and liver TG accumulation (P < 0.05 for both). Microbial diversity and number of the Bacteroidetes phylum were significantly increased in LCR with OVX, but unchanged in HCR OVX relative to Sham. Plasma short‐chain fatty acids (SCFA), produced by bacteria in the gut and recognized as metabolic signaling molecules, were significantly greater in HCR Sham relative to LCR Sham rats (P = 0.05) and were decreased with OVX in both groups. These results suggest that increased aerobic capacity may be protective against menopause‐associated cardiometabolic risk and that gut ecology, and production of signaling molecules such as SCFA, may contribute to the mediation.We have demonstrated modest protection from the metabolic effects of surgical menopause (ovariectomy, OVX) in rats with increased aerobic capacity (high running capacity, HCR) relative to those with low aerobic capacity (low running capacity, LCR). These results are associated with significant differences in gut microbiota and their products (short chain fatty acids) between the two groups.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113123/1/phy212488.pd

Unusually Long Palindromes Are Abundant in Mitochondrial Control Regions of Insects and Nematodes

BACKGROUND: Palindromes are known to be involved in a variety of biological processes. In the present investigation we carried out a comprehensive analysis of palindromes in the mitochondrial control regions (CRs) of several animal groups to study their frequency, distribution and architecture to gain insights into the origin of replication of mtDNA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Many species of Arthropoda, Nematoda, Mollusca and Annelida harbor palindromes and inverted repeats (IRs) in their CRs. Lower animals like cnidarians and higher animal groups like chordates are almost devoid of palindromes and IRs. The study revealed that palindrome occurrence is positively correlated with the AT content of CRs, and that IRs are likely to give rise to longer palindromes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The present study attempts to explain possible reasons and gives in silico evidence for absence of palindromes and IRs from CR of vertebrate mtDNA and acquisition and retention of the same in insects. Study of CRs of different animal phyla uncovered unique architecture of this locus, be it high abundance of long palindromes and IRs in CRs of Insecta and Nematoda, or short IRs of 10–20 nucleotides with a spacer region of 12–14 bases in subphylum Chelicerata, or nearly complete of absence of any long palindromes and IRs in Vertebrata, Cnidaria and Echinodermata

Theoretical Analysis of Competing Conformational Transitions in Superhelical DNA

We develop a statistical mechanical model to analyze the competitive behavior of transitions to multiple alternate conformations in a negatively supercoiled DNA molecule of kilobase length and specified base sequence. Since DNA superhelicity topologically couples together the transition behaviors of all base pairs, a unified model is required to analyze all the transitions to which the DNA sequence is susceptible. Here we present a first model of this type. Our numerical approach generalizes the strategy of previously developed algorithms, which studied superhelical transitions to a single alternate conformation. We apply our multi-state model to study the competition between strand separation and B-Z transitions in superhelical DNA. We show this competition to be highly sensitive to temperature and to the imposed level of supercoiling. Comparison of our results with experimental data shows that, when the energetics appropriate to the experimental conditions are used, the competition between these two transitions is accurately captured by our algorithm. We analyze the superhelical competition between B-Z transitions and denaturation around the c-myc oncogene, where both transitions are known to occur when this gene is transcribing. We apply our model to explore the correlation between stress-induced transitions and transcriptional activity in various organisms. In higher eukaryotes we find a strong enhancement of Z-forming regions immediately 5′ to their transcription start sites (TSS), and a depletion of strand separating sites in a broad region around the TSS. The opposite patterns occur around transcript end locations. We also show that susceptibility to each type of transition is different in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. By analyzing a set of untranscribed pseudogenes we show that the Z-susceptibility just downstream of the TSS is not preserved, suggesting it may be under selection pressure

The RNA binding protein HuR differentially regulates unique subsets of mRNAs in estrogen receptor negative and estrogen receptor positive breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The discordance between steady-state levels of mRNAs and protein has been attributed to posttranscriptional control mechanisms affecting mRNA stability and translation. Traditional methods of genome wide microarray analysis, profiling steady-state levels of mRNA, may miss important mRNA targets owing to significant posttranscriptional gene regulation by RNA binding proteins (RBPs).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The ribonomic approach, utilizing RNA immunoprecipitation hybridized to microarray (RIP-Chip), provides global identification of putative endogenous mRNA targets of different RBPs. HuR is an RBP that binds to the AU-rich elements (ARE) of labile mRNAs, such as proto-oncogenes, facilitating their translation into protein. HuR has been shown to play a role in cancer progression and elevated levels of cytoplasmic HuR directly correlate with increased invasiveness and poor prognosis for many cancers, including those of the breast. HuR has been described to control genes in several of the acquired capabilities of cancer and has been hypothesized to be a tumor-maintenance gene, allowing for cancers to proliferate once they are established.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used HuR RIP-Chip as a comprehensive and systematic method to survey breast cancer target genes in both MCF-7 (estrogen receptor positive, ER+) and MDA-MB-231 (estrogen receptor negative, ER-) breast cancer cell lines. We identified unique subsets of HuR-associated mRNAs found individually or in both cell types. Two novel HuR targets, <it>CD9 </it>and <it>CALM2 </it>mRNAs, were identified and validated by quantitative RT-PCR and biotin pull-down analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report of a side-by-side genome-wide comparison of HuR-associated targets in wild type ER+ and ER- breast cancer. We found distinct, differentially expressed subsets of cancer related genes in ER+ and ER- breast cancer cell lines, and noted that the differential regulation of two cancer-related genes by HuR was contingent upon the cellular environment.</p

International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics.

Position statement: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) provides an objective and critical review of the mechanisms and use of probiotic supplementation to optimize the health, performance, and recovery of athletes. Based on the current available literature, the conclusions of the ISSN are as follows: 1)Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (FAO/WHO).2)Probiotic administration has been linked to a multitude of health benefits, with gut and immune health being the most researched applications.3)Despite the existence of shared, core mechanisms for probiotic function, health benefits of probiotics are strain- and dose-dependent.4)Athletes have varying gut microbiota compositions that appear to reflect the activity level of the host in comparison to sedentary people, with the differences linked primarily to the volume of exercise and amount of protein consumption. Whether differences in gut microbiota composition affect probiotic efficacy is unknown.5)The main function of the gut is to digest food and absorb nutrients. In athletic populations, certain probiotics strains can increase absorption of key nutrients such as amino acids from protein, and affect the pharmacology and physiological properties of multiple food components.6)Immune depression in athletes worsens with excessive training load, psychological stress, disturbed sleep, and environmental extremes, all of which can contribute to an increased risk of respiratory tract infections. In certain situations, including exposure to crowds, foreign travel and poor hygiene at home, and training or competition venues, athletes' exposure to pathogens may be elevated leading to increased rates of infections. Approximately 70% of the immune system is located in the gut and probiotic supplementation has been shown to promote a healthy immune response. In an athletic population, specific probiotic strains can reduce the number of episodes, severity and duration of upper respiratory tract infections.7)Intense, prolonged exercise, especially in the heat, has been shown to increase gut permeability which potentially can result in systemic toxemia. Specific probiotic strains can improve the integrity of the gut-barrier function in athletes.8)Administration of selected anti-inflammatory probiotic strains have been linked to improved recovery from muscle-damaging exercise.9)The minimal effective dose and method of administration (potency per serving, single vs. split dose, delivery form) of a specific probiotic strain depends on validation studies for this particular strain. Products that contain probiotics must include the genus, species, and strain of each live microorganism on its label as well as the total estimated quantity of each probiotic strain at the end of the product's shelf life, as measured by colony forming units (CFU) or live cells.10)Preclinical and early human research has shown potential probiotic benefits relevant to an athletic population that include improved body composition and lean body mass, normalizing age-related declines in testosterone levels, reductions in cortisol levels indicating improved responses to a physical or mental stressor, reduction of exercise-induced lactate, and increased neurotransmitter synthesis, cognition and mood. However, these potential benefits require validation in more rigorous human studies and in an athletic population