Neurodegeneration of the retina in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease: what can we learn from the retina?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related progressive neurodegenerative disease commonly found among elderly. In addition to cognitive and behavioral deficits, vision abnormalities are prevalent in AD patients. Recent studies investigating retinal changes in AD double-transgenic mice have shown altered processing of amyloid precursor protein and accumulation of β-amyloid peptides in neurons of retinal ganglion cell layer (RGCL) and inner nuclear layer (INL). Apoptotic cells were also detected in the RGCL. Thus, the pathophysiological changes of retinas in AD patients are possibly resembled by AD transgenic models. The retina is a simple model of the brain in the sense that some pathological changes and therapeutic strategies from the retina may be observed or applicable to the brain. Furthermore, it is also possible to advance our understanding of pathological mechanisms in other retinal degenerative diseases. Therefore, studying AD-related retinal degeneration is a promising way for the investigation on (1) AD pathologies and therapies that would eventually benefit the brain and (2) cellular mechanisms in other retinal degenerations such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. This review will highlight the efforts on retinal degenerative research using AD transgenic mouse models

Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through on-line media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focussed on process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come

The proximate composition of three marine pelagic fish: blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), boarfish (Capros aper) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus)

peer reviewedThis study presents data from an in-depth proximate compositional analysis of three marine fish species: blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou), boarfish (Capros aper) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus). These fish contained significant amounts of protein (16–17%), lipids (4–11%) and minerals (2–6% ash). The proteins, particularly from boarfish, had close to optimum amino acid profiles for human and fish nutrition. They compared favourably with other fish species in terms of total lipids and relative concentration of the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid (11.8–13.3% and 5.9–8.1% in triacylglycerols [TG] and 24.6–35.4% and 5.8–12.0% in phospholipids [PL]). Atlantic herring had the highest lipid content among the three fish and was found to contain high levels of PL poly-unsaturated fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids. Minerals detected in the fish included calcium (272–1,520 mg/100 g), phosphorus (363–789 mg/100 g), iron (1.07–2.83 mg/100 g), magnesium (40.70–62.10 mg/100 g), potassium (112.00–267.00 mg/100 g), selenium (0.04–0.06 mg/100 g), sodium (218.00–282.00 mg/100 g) and zinc (1.29–5.57 mg/100 g). Boarfish had the highest ash fraction and also the highest levels of all the minerals, except potassium. Atlantic herring had considerably lower mineral content compared with the other two species and, levels detected were also lower than those reported in previously published studies. Heavy metals contents were quantified, and levels were significantly below the maximum allowable limits for all elements except arsenic, which ranged from 1.34 to 2.44 mg/kg in the three fish species. Data outlined here will be useful for guiding product development. Future studies would benefit from considering catch season, sex and developmental stage of the fish

Effect of daily gavage with a collagen hydrolysate containing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-like molecules on plasma CGRP-levels in rats

Siki (Centroscymnus coelolepis) hydrolysates may contain calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-like molecules. These CGRP-like molecules have attracted attention from the food industry due to their promising applications in the field of functional foods. These CGRP-like molecules were purified and sequenced, and found to show homology to fragments of fish and human collagen. The effect on plasma CGRP-levels of daily gavage with siki hydrolysate containing CGRP-like molecules was further studied in male Wistar rats. The plasma CGRP-levels in rats force fed with the siki hydrolysate were significantly higher than those of the control group. The siki hydrolysate included immunoreactive-CGRP molecules which resisted simulated protein digestion. They were able to cross the intestinal barrier intact and could be responsible for the increase in plasma CGRP levels. This increment in plasma CGRP levels was insufficient to affect body weight or food intake. However, it could lead to other beneficial effects on health. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.Peer Reviewe

Application Topology Definition and Tasks Mapping for Efficient Use of Heterogeneous Resources

International audienceNowadays, high-performance computing (HPC) not only faces challenges to reach computing performance, it also has to take in consideration the energy consumption. In this context, heterogeneous ar-chitectures are expected to tackle this challenge by proposing a mix of HPC and low-power nodes. There is a significant research effort to define methods for exploiting such computing platforms and find a trade-off between computing performance and energy consumption. To this purpose, the topology of the application and the mapping of tasks onto physical resources are of major importance. In this paper we propose an iterative approach based on the exploration of logical topologies and mappings. These solutions are executed onto the heterogeneous platform and evaluated. Based on these results a Pareto front is built, allowing users to select the most relevant configurations of the application according to the current goals and constraints. Experiments have been conducted on a heterogeneous micro-server using a video processing application running on top of a software-distributed shared memory and deployed over a mix of Intel i7 and Arm Cortex A15 processors. Results show that some counterintuitive solutions found by the exploration approach perform better than classical configurations

Chronique maritime n°638

National audienc

Chronique maritime n°638

National audienc