The influence of angiotensin converting enzyme and bradykinin receptor B-2 gene variants on voluntary fluid intake and fluid balance in healthy men during moderate-intensity exercise in the heat

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and bradykinin receptor B2 (B2R) genetic variation may affect thirst because of effects on angiotensin II production and bradykinin activity, respectively. To examine this, 45 healthy Caucasian men completed 60 min of cycle exercise at 62% ± 5% peak oxygen uptake in a room heated to 30.5 ± 0.3 °C with ad libitum fluid intake. Blood samples were collected pre-, mid-, and immediately post-cycle. Fluid intake, body mass loss (BML), sweat loss (determined via changes in body mass and fluid intake), and thirst sensation were recorded. All participants were genotyped for the ACE insert fragment (I) and the B2R insert sequence (P). Participants were homozygous for the wild-type allele (WW or MM), heterozygous (WI or MP) or homozygous for the insert (II or PP). No differences between genotype groups were found in mean (±SD) voluntary fluid intake (WW: 613 ± 388, WI: 753 ± 385, II: 862 ± 421 mL, p = 0.31; MM: 599 ± 322, MP: 745 ± 374, PP: 870 ± 459 mL, p = 0.20), percentage BML or any other fluid balance variables for both the ACE and B2R genes, respectively. Mean thirst perception in the B2R PP group, however, was higher (p < 0.05) than both MM and MP at 30, 45, and 60 min. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that voluntary fluid intake and fluid balance in healthy men performing 60 min of moderate-intensity exercise in the heat are not predominantly influenced by ACE or B2R genetic variation

Livestock trade networks for guiding animal health surveillance

BACKGROUND: Trade in live animals can contribute to the introduction of exotic diseases, the maintenance and spread endemic diseases. Annually millions of animals are moved across Europe for the purposes of breeding, fattening and slaughter. Data on the number of animals moved were obtained from the Directorate General Sanco (DG Sanco) for 2011. These were converted to livestock units to enable direct comparison across species and their movements were mapped, used to calculate the indegrees and outdegrees of 27 European countries and the density and transitivity of movements within Europe. This provided the opportunity to discuss surveillance of European livestock movement taking into account stopping points en-route. RESULTS: High density and transitivity of movement for registered equines, breeding and fattening cattle, breeding poultry and pigs for breeding, fattening and slaughter indicates that hazards have the potential to spread quickly within these populations. This is of concern to highly connected countries particularly those where imported animals constitute a large proportion of their national livestock populations, and have a high indegree. The transport of poultry (older than 72 hours) and unweaned animals would require more rest breaks than the movement of weaned animals, which may provide more opportunities for disease transmission. Transitivity is greatest for animals transported for breeding purposes with cattle, pigs and poultry having values of over 50%. CONCLUSIONS: This paper demonstrated that some species (pigs and poultry) are traded much more frequently and at a larger scale than species such as goats. Some countries are more vulnerable than others due to importing animals from many countries, having imported animals requiring rest-breaks and importing large proportions of their national herd or flock. Such knowledge about the vulnerability of different livestock systems related to trade movements can be used to inform the design of animal health surveillance systems to facilitate the trade in animals between European member states. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-015-0354-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Learning to live with Parkinson’s disease in the family unit:an interpretative phenomenological analysis of well-being

We investigated family members’ lived experience of Parkinson’s disease (PD) aiming to investigate opportunities for well-being. A lifeworld-led approach to healthcare was adopted. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore in-depth interviews with people living with PD and their partners. The analysis generated four themes: It’s more than just an illness revealed the existential challenge of diagnosis; Like a bird with a broken wing emphasizing the need to adapt to increasing immobility through embodied agency; Being together with PD exploring the kinship within couples and belonging experienced through support groups; and Carpe diem! illuminated the significance of time and fractured future orientation created by diagnosis. Findings were interpreted using an existential-phenomenological theory of well-being. We highlighted how partners shared the impact of PD in their own ontological challenges. Further research with different types of families and in different situations is required to identify services required to facilitate the process of learning to live with PD. Care and support for the family unit needs to provide emotional support to manage threats to identity and agency alongside problem-solving for bodily changes. Adopting a lifeworld-led healthcare approach would increase opportunities for well-being within the PD illness journey

Networks or structures? : organizing cultural routes around heritage values : case studies from Poland

The most common way of managing cultural heritage recently takes form of cultural routes as they seem to offer a new model of participation in culture to their recipients; they are often a peculiar anchor point for inhabitants to let them understand their identity and form the future; they offer actual tours to enter into interaction with culture and history, to build together that creation of the heritage, which so is becoming not only a touristic product, but, first of all, the space for cultural, social and civic activity. Yet, so far, according to what we know, the research problem concerning the method of cultural route organization (points on the route) into solid structures or more of the networked nature, has not been deliberated. A question arises, what values are brought by routes and how to organize routes to be the carriers of the values important for communities, where routes are functioning. And, as a consequence, if, from the point of view of the values of local communities, organizing solid route structures or organizing more widely-spaced, network-based routes would bring effects and what those effects would be. Thus, the posed question is of course scientifically imprecise because a network is a type of structure but presents a given direction for the development of cultural route structures. Our objective here is to present a certain solidity and rigidity of structure with dynamic and smooth understanding of the network. The research presented in the article is based on 3 case studies. We have selected for this purpose the three largest cultural routes in Poland, organized to various degrees. The outcome of the research was referred also to other cultural route organization research

The effect of the stromal component of breast tumours on prediction of clinical outcome using gene expression microarray analysis

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the cellular composition of biopsies on the error rates of multigene predictors of response of breast tumours to neoadjuvant adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Core biopsies were taken from primary breast tumours of 43 patients prior to AC, and subsequent clinical response was recorded. Post-chemotherapy (day 21) samples were available for 16 of these samples. Frozen sections of each core were used to estimate the proportion of invasive cancer and other tissue components at three levels. Transcriptional profiling was performed using a cDNA array containing 4,600 elements. RESULTS: Twenty-three (53%) patients demonstrated a 'good' and 20 (47%) a 'poor' clinical response. The percentage invasive tumour in core biopsies collected from these patients varied markedly. Despite this, agglomerative clustering of sample expression profiles showed that almost all biopsies from the same tumour aggregated as nearest neighbours. SAM (significance analysis of microarrays) regression analysis identified 144 genes which distinguished high- and low-percentage invasive tumour biopsies at a false discovery rate of not more than 5%. The misclassification error of prediction of clinical response using microarray data from pre-treatment biopsies (on leave-one-out cross-validation) was 28%. When prediction was performed on subsets of samples which were more homogeneous in their proportions of malignant and stromal cells, the misclassification error was considerably lower (8%–13%, p < 0.05 on permutation). CONCLUSION: The non-tumour content of breast cancer samples has a significant effect on gene expression profiles. Consideration of this factor improves accuracy of response prediction by expression array profiling. Future gene expression array prediction studies should be planned taking this into account

Muscle and reflex changes with varying joint angle in hemiparetic stroke

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite intensive investigation, the origins of the neuromuscular abnormalities associated with spasticity are not well understood. In particular, the mechanical properties induced by stretch reflex activity have been especially difficult to study because of a lack of accurate tools separating reflex torque from torque generated by musculo-tendinous structures. The present study addresses this deficit by characterizing the contribution of neural and muscular components to the abnormally high stiffness of the spastic joint.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using system identification techniques, we characterized the neuromuscular abnormalities associated with spasticity of ankle muscles in chronic hemiparetic stroke survivors. In particular, we systematically tracked changes in muscle mechanical properties and in stretch reflex activity during changes in ankle joint angle. Modulation of mechanical properties was assessed by applying perturbations at different initial angles, over the entire range of motion (ROM). Experiments were performed on both paretic and non-paretic sides of stroke survivors, and in healthy controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both reflex and intrinsic muscle stiffnesses were significantly greater in the spastic/paretic ankle than on the non-paretic side, and these changes were strongly position dependent. The major reflex contributions were observed over the central portion of the angular range, while the intrinsic contributions were most pronounced with the ankle in the dorsiflexed position.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In spastic ankle muscles, the abnormalities in intrinsic and reflex components of joint torque varied systematically with changing position over the full angular range of motion, indicating that clinical perceptions of increased tone may have quite different origins depending upon the angle where the tests are initiated.</p> <p>Furthermore, reflex stiffness was considerably larger in the non-paretic limb of stroke patients than in healthy control subjects, suggesting that the non-paretic limb may not be a suitable control for studying neuromuscular properties of the ankle joint.</p> <p>Our findings will help elucidate the origins of the neuromuscular abnormalities associated with stroke-induced spasticity.</p

Molecular response to aromatase inhibitor treatment in primary breast cancer

BackgroundAromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole and letrozole are highly effective suppressants of estrogen synthesis in postmenopausal women and are the most effective endocrine treatments for hormone receptor positive breast cancer in such women. Little is known of the molecular effects of these agents on human breast carcinomas in vivo.MethodsWe randomly assigned primary estrogen receptor positive breast cancer patients to treatment with anastrozole or letrozole for 2 weeks before surgery. Expression profiling using cDNA arrays was conducted on pretreatment and post-treatment biopsies. Sample pairs from 34 patients provided sufficient RNA for analysis.ResultsProfound changes in gene expression were seen with both aromatase inhibitors, including many classical estrogen-dependent genes such as TFF1, CCND1, PDZK1 and AGR2, but also many other genes that are likely to represent secondary responses; decrease in the expression of proliferation-related genes were particularly prominent. Many upregulated genes are involved in extracellular matrix remodelling, including collagens and members of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family (LUM, DCN, and ASPN). No significant differences were seen between letrozole and anastrozole in terms of molecular effects. The gene changes were integrated into a Global Index of Dependence on Estrogen (GIDE), which enumerates the genes changing by at least twofold with therapy. The GIDE varied markedly between tumours and related significantly to pretreatment levels of HER2 and changes in immunohistochemically detected Ki67.ConclusionOur findings identify the transcriptional signatures associated with aromatase inhibitor treatment of primary breast tumours. Larger datasets using this approach should enable identification of estrogen-dependent molecular changes, which are the determinants of benefit or resistance to endocrine therapy

Evidence for a Novel Marine Harmful Algal Bloom: Cyanotoxin (Microcystin) Transfer from Land to Sea Otters

“Super-blooms” of cyanobacteria that produce potent and environmentally persistent biotoxins (microcystins) are an emerging global health issue in freshwater habitats. Monitoring of the marine environment for secondary impacts has been minimal, although microcystin-contaminated freshwater is known to be entering marine ecosystems. Here we confirm deaths of marine mammals from microcystin intoxication and provide evidence implicating land-sea flow with trophic transfer through marine invertebrates as the most likely route of exposure. This hypothesis was evaluated through environmental detection of potential freshwater and marine microcystin sources, sea otter necropsy with biochemical analysis of tissues and evaluation of bioaccumulation of freshwater microcystins by marine invertebrates. Ocean discharge of freshwater microcystins was confirmed for three nutrient-impaired rivers flowing into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and microcystin concentrations up to 2,900 ppm (2.9 million ppb) were detected in a freshwater lake and downstream tributaries to within 1 km of the ocean. Deaths of 21 southern sea otters, a federally listed threatened species, were linked to microcystin intoxication. Finally, farmed and free-living marine clams, mussels and oysters of species that are often consumed by sea otters and humans exhibited significant biomagnification (to 107 times ambient water levels) and slow depuration of freshwater cyanotoxins, suggesting a potentially serious environmental and public health threat that extends from the lowest trophic levels of nutrient-impaired freshwater habitat to apex marine predators. Microcystin-poisoned sea otters were commonly recovered near river mouths and harbors and contaminated marine bivalves were implicated as the most likely source of this potent hepatotoxin for wild otters. This is the first report of deaths of marine mammals due to cyanotoxins and confirms the existence of a novel class of marine “harmful algal bloom” in the Pacific coastal environment; that of hepatotoxic shellfish poisoning (HSP), suggesting that animals and humans are at risk from microcystin poisoning when consuming shellfish harvested at the land-sea interface

Biology-driven cancer drug development: back to the future

Most of the significant recent advances in cancer treatment have been based on the great strides that have been made in our understanding of the underlying biology of the disease. Nevertheless, the exploitation of biological insight in the oncology clinic has been haphazard and we believe that this needs to be enhanced and optimized if patients are to receive maximum benefit. Here, we discuss how research has driven cancer drug development in the past and describe how recent advances in biology, technology, our conceptual understanding of cell networks and removal of some roadblocks may facilitate therapeutic advances in the (hopefully) near future