Heritability of a skeletal biomarker of biological aging

Changes in the skeletal system, which include age-related bone and joint remodeling, can potentially be used as a biomarker of biological aging. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent and mode of inheritance of skeletal biomarker of biological aging—osseographic score (OSS), in a large sample of ethnically homogeneous pedigrees. The investigated cohort comprised 359 Chuvashian families and included 787 men aged 18–89 years (mean 46.9) and 723 women aged 18–90 years (mean 48.5). The TOSS - transformed OSS standardized in 5-year age groups for each sex, was analyzed as a BA index. We evaluated familial correlations and performed segregation analysis. Results of our study suggest the familial aggregations of TOSS variation in the Chuvashian pedigrees. In a segregation analysis we found a significant major gene (MG) effect in the individual’s TOSS with a dominant most parsimonious model (H2 = 0.32). Genetic factors (MG genotypes) explained 47% of the residual OSS variance after age adjustment and after including sex-genotype interaction, they explained 52% of the residual variance. Results of our study also indicated that the inherited difference in the skeletal aging pattern in men lies mostly in the rate of aging, but in women in the age of the onset of the period of visible skeletal changes

Seasonal physico-chemical characterization of water of sacred lake Nachiketa Tal, Garhwal Himalaya

Abstract The management of natural surface water resources needs the understanding of water quality. The present study on the physico-chemical parameters of water quality of sacred lake Nachiketa Tal of Garhwal Himalaya was undertaken. During the period from May 2015 to April 2016 at four sampling stations, seasonal variations in air temperature, water temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, salinity, TDS, dissolved oxygen, free CO2, hardness, alkalinity, nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, calcium and magnesium were recorded. The statistical correlation and cluster analysis between the various physico-chemical parameters of Nachiketa Tal were computed. The results of this study revealed that the concentration of the nutrients, turbidity, electrical conductivity, TDS increased with a decreasing trend of dissolved oxygen in all the sampling stations during the monsoon season. Thus, degradation in the water quality of the lake was resulted in the monsoon season