Revue et nouvelles données sur la sensitivité à la lumière et orientation non-visuelle chez Proteus anguinus, Calotriton asper et Desmognathus ochrophaeus (Amphibiens urodèles hypogés)

Schlegel PA, Briegleb W, Bulog B, Steinfartz S. Revue et nouvelles données sur la sensitivité à la lumière et orientation non-visuelle chez Proteus anguinus, Calotriton asper et Desmognathus ochrophaeus (Amphibiens urodèles hypogés). Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France. 2006;118:1-31

Extreme lifespan of the human fish (Proteus anguinus): a challenge for ageing mechanisms

Theories of extreme lifespan evolution in vertebrates commonly implicate large size and predator-free environments together with physiological characteristics like low metabolism and high protection against oxidative damages. Here, we show that the ‘human fish’ (olm, Proteus anguinus), a small cave salamander (weighing 15–20 g), has evolved an extreme life-history strategy with a predicted maximum lifespan of over 100 years, an adult average lifespan of 68.5 years, an age at sexual maturity of 15.6 years and lays, on average, 35 eggs every 12.5 years. Surprisingly, neither its basal metabolism nor antioxidant activities explain why this animal sits as an outlier in the amphibian size/longevity relationship. This species thus raises questions regarding ageing processes and constitutes a promising model for discovering mechanisms preventing senescence in vertebrates

Financial performance–efficiency nexus in public health services: A nonparametric evidence-based approach

Public health services, as a preventive aspect of health care, are essential for the sustainability of the entire health care system. However, the context of public health services, which focus is primarily on prevention, is not a common setting when measuring the efficiency within nonparametric evidence-based approach. The aim of this study is to measure the efficiency of the financial performance of organizational units of the public health institute in Croatia, the Health Ecology Department in particular, during the period 2016–2018 using data envelopment analysis. Among the many reasons behind choosing this nonparametric method is the fact that it identifies the sources of inefficiency and specifies the directions and magnitudes of improvements required. Two input-oriented models – CCR under constant and BCC under variable returns-to-scale assumption – are employed for evaluating three types of efficiency – technical, pure technical and scale efficiency. Two hypotheses are examined and empirically confirmed: first, that there is significant between-unit variability in financial performance, and second, that investments are the major source of inefficiency among the observed indicators. The results have additionally revealed that the mentioned differences are less pronounced in the case of pure technical efficiency, implying that the overall inefficiency of the Health Ecology Department units can be generally attributed to scale efficiency. Besides, only three out of twelve department units are considered efficient. The implications of the research results are aimed at further research and testing the efficiency of the entire network of public health institutes, as well as to provide policy makers with new insights when considering different modes of organizing and delivering public health services

High anoxia tolerance in the subterranean salamander Proteus anguinus without oxidative stress nor activation of antioxidant defenses during reoxygenation

The present study describes a high anoxia tolerance in an amphibian at high temperature. Indeed, the subterranean salamander Proteus anguinus survived 12 h under anoxia at 12°C. Surprisingly, such experimental conditions did not affect P. anguinus oxidative status while muscles and liver antioxidant enzymes activities decreased under 8 h anoxia and only return to basal level during reoxygenation. To test if such adaptation is common in Urodels, equivalent experimentations have been conducted on another newt: the stream-dwelling Calotriton asper. This latter species exhibited only 1.5 h survival under anoxia in spite of higher antioxidant enzymes activities than P. anguinus. Furthermore, aerobic recovery after 1 h anoxia induced a 30% increase of oxidative damage partly explained by SOD and CAT activities that did not return to control values during reoxygenation, demonstrating a lower capacity to counteract ROS overproduction than P. anguinus. In addition, uncoupling protein (UCP) transcript was for the first time detected, partly sequenced and quantified in amphibian muscles and liver. UCP may be considered as a ROS production attenuator by mediating a discharge of the proton gradient generated by the respiratory chain. The putative role of UCP in post-anoxic oxidative status of both species is discussed