Sublethal effects of manganese on the carbohydrate metabolism of Oreochromis mossambicus after acute and chronic exposure

Carbohydrate metabolism variables of Oreochromis mossambicuswere investigated after acute and chronic sublethal manganese exposure. The sublethal concentrations were determined from the LC50 value of manganese. After the exposures, the fish were carefully netted and blood was drawn from the caudal aorta. The differences in the values of carbohydrate metabolism variables of exposed fish were measured against control values and statistically analysed to prove statistically significant differences in variable values, caused by the metal pollutant (P < 0.05). The results obtained showed changes in the carbohydrate metabolism variables (glucose, lactate, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase concentrations). These alterations are produced as a result of increased levels of Cortisol and catecholamines, as well as hypoxic conditions. The latter induce hyperglycemia and increased lactate levels. Hypoxia may be a result of the damaging effect of manganese on the gills after exposure. The enzymes involved in the carbohydrate metabolism are sensitive to metal exposure and therefore enzyme concentrations fluctuated after the exposure to manganese. Enzyme function plays an important role in the catalysing of chemical reactions in an organism and the disturbance thereof could lead to death. Fish enzyme levels are therefore important biomarkers in the event of metal pollution in a water source

Gender and Social Inequalities in Awareness of Coronary Artery Disease in European Countries

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the single leading cause of death in Europe and the most common form of cardiovascular disease. Little is known about awareness in the European population. A cross-sectional telephone survey of 2609 individuals from six European countries was conducted to gather information on perceptions of CAD, risk factors, preventive measures, knowledge of heart attack symptoms and ability to seek emergency medical care. Level of awareness was compared according to gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES) and educational level. Women were approximately five times less likely than men to consider heart disease as a main health issue or leading cause of death (OR = 0.224, 95% CI: 0.178-0.280, OR = 0.196, 95% CI: 0.171-0.226). Additionally, women were significantly less likely to have ever had a cardiovascular screening test (OR = 0.515, 95% CI: 0.459-0.578). Only 16.3% of men and 15.3% of women were able to spontaneously identify the main symptoms of a heart attack. Almost half of the sample failed to state that they would call emergency services in case of a cardiac event. Significant differences according to age, SES and education were found for many indicators amongst both men and women. Development of a European strategy targeting improved awareness of CAD and reduced gender and social inequalities within the European population is warranted

Auditory presentation and synchronization in Adobe Flash and HTML5/JavaScript Web experiments

Substantial recent research has examined the accuracy of presentation durations and response time measurements for visually presented stimuli in Web-based experiments, with a general conclusion that accuracy is acceptable for most kinds of experiments. However, many areas of behavioral research use auditory stimuli instead of, or in addition to, visual stimuli. Much less is known about auditory accuracy using standard Web-based testing procedures. We used a millisecond-accurate Black Box Toolkit to measure the actual durations of auditory stimuli and the synchronization of auditory and visual presentation onsets. We examined the distribution of timings for 100 presentations of auditory and visual stimuli across two computers with difference specs, three commonly used browsers, and code written in either Adobe Flash or JavaScript. We also examined different coding options for attempting to synchronize the auditory and visual onsets. Overall, we found that auditory durations were very consistent, but that the lags between visual and auditory onsets varied substantially across browsers and computer systems

Tissue-specific suppression of thyroid hormone signaling in various mouse models of aging

DNA damage contributes to the process of aging, as underscored by premature aging syndromes caused by defective DNA repair. Thyroid state changes during aging, but underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Since thyroid hormone (TH) is a key regulator of metabolism, changes in TH signaling have widespread effects. Here, we reveal a significant common transcriptomic signature in livers from hypothyroid mice, DNA repair-deficient mice with severe (Csbm/m/Xpa-/-) or intermediate (Ercc1-/Δ-7) progeria and naturally aged mice. A strong induction of TH-inactivating deiodinase D3 and decrease of TH-activating D1 activities are observed in Csbm/m/Xpa-/- livers. Similar findings are noticed in Ercc1-/Δ-7, in naturally aged animals and in wild-type mice exposed to a chronic subtoxic dose of DNAdamaging agents. In contrast, TH signaling in muscle, heart and brain appears unaltered. These data show a strong suppression of TH signaling in specific peripheral organs in premature and normal aging, probably lowering metabolism, while other tissues appear to preserve metabolism. D3-mediated TH inactivation is unexpected, given its expression mainly in fetal tissues. Our studies highlight the importance of DNA damage as the underlying mechanism of changes in thyroid state. Tissue-specific regulation of deiodinase activities, ensuring diminished TH signaling, may contribute importantly to the protective metabolic response in aging

Sublethal effects of manganese on the haematology and osmoregulation of Oreochromis mossambicus after acute exposure

Oreochromis mossambicus were exposed for 96 hours to sublethal manganese concentrations in a continuous flow-through system. The sublethal concentrations were determined from the LC50 value of manganese (1.723mg/l), which included a 10% (172.3mg/l), 15% (259.8mg/l) and 20% (345.6mg/l) concentration of the LC50 value. Haematological and osmoregulation variables were investigated after acute sublethal manganese exposure and the differences in the values of haematological and osmoregulation values of exposed fish were compared statistically against control values to determine significant differences. After the exposures it was evident that sublethal manganese concentrations had a disruptive influence on the different variables measured. Most of the haematological variables (white blood cells, red blood cells, haemoglobin content and haematocrit percentages) except the mean corpuscle volume decreased significantly after the 20% sublethal exposure. The osmoregulation variables also fluctuated but started to do so at lower sublethal concentration exposures (10% and 15%). Information concerning the sublethal effects of pollutants, such as metals, forms an integral part of ecosystem health assessment programmes and of procedures followed to develop water quality guidelines for environmetal protection. The data from this study were incorporated into a water quality index (RAUWaterz) compiled for the Olifants River, Mpumalanga. This can aid water quality managers, engineers and consultants in assessing the impact of pollutants on the aquatic environment. Keywords: manganese; sublethal; acute toxicity testing; Oreochromis mossambicus; haematology; osmoregulation; gill damage; water quality index (Afr J Aqua Sci: 2001 26(1): 1-7

Open Innovation Generates Great Ideas, So Why Aren’t Companies Adopting Them?

Today, many companies see open innovation — a process for sharing knowledge and ideas with other organizations — as a core part of their strategy for developing new offerings. Oddly, however, although both the depth and breadth of intercompany collaboration continues to increase, the actual adoption of the ideas developed this way does not seem to be rising at the same pace. Similar to earlier studies, the authors’ research suggests the reasons more ideas from open innovation aren’t being adopted are political and cultural, not technical. Multiple gatekeepers, skepticism regarding anything ”not invented here,” and turf wars all hold back adoption. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Independent design agencies, whose survival depends ultimately on their clients’ using their ideas, have long faced this same challenge. They have developed a variety of techniques to encourage clients to adopt their concepts. To learn about their techniques that other kinds of business might apply, the authors examined seven cases where seven design agencies engaged in various innovative projects with organizations from sectors that they wouldn’t normally work with, including a hospital, an industrial flooring manufacturer, a government agency, and a public transport operator. They compared ideas that were adopted to those that ran aground and were not implemented by the organization. They found that successful designers took five strategic actions to cultivate flexibility and trust