Autophagy in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Background: Autophagy is a basic cellular homeostatic process important to cell fate decisions under conditions of stress. Dysregulation of autophagy impacts numerous human diseases including cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease. This study investigates the role of autophagy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: Human lung tissues from patients with IPF were analyzed for autophagy markers and modulating proteins using western blotting, confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. To study the effects of TGF-β1 on autophagy, human lung fibroblasts were monitored by fluorescence microscopy and western blotting. In vivo experiments were done using the bleomycin-induced fibrosis mouse model. Results: Lung tissues from IPF patients demonstrate evidence of decreased autophagic activity as assessed by LC3, p62 protein expression and immunofluorescence, and numbers of autophagosomes. TGF-β1 inhibits autophagy in fibroblasts in vitro at least in part via activation of mTORC1; expression of TIGAR is also increased in response to TGF-β1. In the bleomycin model of pulmonary fibrosis, rapamycin treatment is antifibrotic, and rapamycin also decreases expression of á-smooth muscle actin and fibronectin by fibroblasts in vitro. Inhibition of key regulators of autophagy, LC3 and beclin-1, leads to the opposite effect on fibroblast expression of á-smooth muscle actin and fibronectin. Conclusion: Autophagy is not induced in pulmonary fibrosis despite activation of pathways known to promote autophagy. Impairment of autophagy by TGF-β1 may represent a mechanism for the promotion of fibrogenesis in IPF

Field observations of canopy flows over complex terrain

The investigation of airflow over and within forests in complex terrain has been, until recently, limited to a handful of modelling and laboratory studies. Here, we present an observational dataset of airflow measurements inside and above a forest situated on a ridge on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. The spatial coverage of the observations all the way across the ridge makes this a unique dataset. Two case studies of across-ridge flow under near-neutral conditions are presented and compared with recent idealized two-dimensional modelling studies. Changes in the canopy profiles of both mean wind and turbulent quantities across the ridge are broadly consistent with these idealized studies. Flow separation over the lee slope is seen as a ubiquitous feature of the flow. The three-dimensional nature of the terrain and the heterogeneous forest canopy does however lead to significant variations in the flow separation across the ridge, particularly over the less steep western slope. Furthermore, strong directional shear with height in regions of flow separation has a significant impact on the Reynolds stress terms and other turbulent statistics. Also observed is a decrease in the variability of the wind speed over the summit and lee slope, which has not been seen in previous studies. This dataset should provide a valuable resource for validating models of canopy flow over real, complex terrain

The Achilles tendon is mechanosensitive in older adults: adaptations following 14 weeks versus 1.5 years of cyclic strain exercise.

The aging musculoskeletal system experiences a general decline in structure and function, characterized by a reduced adaptability to environmental stress. We investigated whether the older human Achilles tendon (AT) demonstrates mechanosensitivity (via biomechanical and morphological adaptations) in response to long-term mechanical loading. Thirty-four female adults (60-75 years) were allocated to either a medium-term (14 weeks; N=21) high AT strain cyclic loading exercise intervention or a control group (N=13), with 12 participants continuing with the intervention for 1.5 years. AT biomechanical properties were assessed using ultrasonography and dynamometry. Tendon cross-sectional area (CSA) was investigated by means of magnetic resonance imaging. A 22% exercise-related increment in ankle plantarflexion joint moment, along with increased AT stiffness (598.2±141.2 versus 488.4±136.9 N mm(-1) at baseline), Young's modulus (1.63±0.46 versus 1.37±0.39 GPa at baseline) and about 6% hypertrophy along the entire free AT were identified after 14 weeks of strength training, with no further improvement after 1.5 years of intervention. The aging AT appears to be capable of increasing its stiffness in response to 14 weeks of mechanical loading exercise by changing both its material and dimensional properties. Continuing exercise seems to maintain, but not cause further adaptive changes in tendons, suggesting that the adaptive time-response relationship of aging tendons subjected to mechanical loading is nonlinear

A Predator from East Africa that Chooses Malaria Vectors as Preferred Prey

BACKGROUND: All vectors of human malaria, a disease responsible for more than one million deaths per year, are female mosquitoes from the genus Anopheles. Evarcha culicivora is an East African jumping spider (Salticidae) that feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by selecting blood-carrying female mosquitoes as preferred prey. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By testing with motionless lures made from mounting dead insects in lifelike posture on cork discs, we show that E. culicivora selects Anopheles mosquitoes in preference to other mosquitoes and that this predator can identify Anopheles by static appearance alone. Tests using active (grooming) virtual mosquitoes rendered in 3-D animation show that Anopheles' characteristic resting posture is an important prey-choice cue for E. culicivora. Expression of the spider's preference for Anopheles varies with the spider's size, varies with its prior feeding condition and is independent of the spider gaining a blood meal. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first experimental study to show that a predator of any type actively chooses Anopheles as preferred prey, suggesting that specialized predators having a role in the biological control of disease vectors is a realistic possibility

Technique of anterior colporrhaphy: a Dutch evaluation

Contains fulltext : 96395.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: To evaluate the variation in techniques of anterior colporrhaphy among members of the Dutch Urogynecologic Society. METHODS: A questionnaire evaluating the technique of anterior colporrhaphy, preoperative and postoperative care, and use of the POP-Q score was sent out by e-mail. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-three completed questionnaires were received. The response rate was 65%. There are large variations in incisions, use of hydrodissection, method of plication, and excision of redundant vaginal epithelium. The urinary catheter was generally removed on day 2 after surgery and the vaginal pack on day 1. Less than half of the respondents used the POP-Q score routinely. CONCLUSIONS: Dutch gynecologists use a variety of surgical techniques to operate on a cystocele. This suggests that there is no widely accepted opinion on the best surgical approach. The lack of differentiation between central and lateral defects is striking and in contrast with the, mostly, American literature

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO