Changes in physical activity and alimentation habits during the initial phase of the covid-19 pandemic: a descriptive transversal study

Background: Physical exercise and healthy alimentation are considered the two basic columns for a healthy life. This study, objected to describe the impact of physical distancing in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on these habits in an adult population well known for its high prevalence of overweight and its associated chronic diseases in Brazil. Materials and Method: From May to July 2020, a digital survey was released, questioning about general health, diet and physical activity before and during decreed pandemic restrictions. Results: The majority (56%) of the 1739 respondents fitted the WHO classification criteria for overweight and obesity, 42% reported chronic morbidities and increased body weight since March 2020 (48%). The number of people not practicing any physical exercise had doubled in only three months (from 25% to 48% after March 2020) and time spend sedentary at work (38%) as well as in work-free times had increased (76%). Alimentation routines adapted partly worrisome habits like introducing more vespertine snacks between main meals but also positive changes like cooking at home (53%), and higher consumption of natural products (34%). Conclusion: Considering the age distribution of the participants (67% < 40 years of age), access to digital media, high educational level (77% with university degree), good to excellent basic sanitation (97%), the observed habit changes in only three months are concerning. It shows that even socially privileged people struggle to adapt healthy routines in times of crisis

Pleiotropic effects in Eya3 knockout mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In <it>Drosophila</it>, mutations in the gene <it>eyes absent </it>(<it>eya</it>) lead to severe defects in eye development. The functions of its mammalian orthologs <it>Eya1-4 </it>are only partially understood and no mouse model exists for <it>Eya3</it>. Therefore, we characterized the phenotype of a new <it>Eya3 </it>knockout mouse mutant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression analysis of <it>Eya3 </it>by <it>in-situ </it>hybridizations and β-Gal-staining of <it>Eya3 </it>mutant mice revealed abundant expression of the gene throughout development, e.g. in brain, eyes, heart, somites and limbs suggesting pleiotropic effects of the mutated gene. A similar complex expression pattern was observed also in zebrafish embryos.</p> <p>The phenotype of young adult <it>Eya3 </it>mouse mutants was systematically analyzed within the German Mouse Clinic. There was no obvious defect in the eyes, ears and kidneys of <it>Eya3 </it>mutant mice. Homozygous mutants displayed decreased bone mineral content and shorter body length. In the lung, the tidal volume at rest was decreased, and electrocardiography showed increased JT- and PQ intervals as well as decreased QRS amplitude. Behavioral analysis of the mutants demonstrated a mild increase in exploratory behavior, but decreased locomotor activity and reduced muscle strength. Analysis of differential gene expression revealed 110 regulated genes in heart and brain. Using real-time PCR, we confirmed <it>Nup155 </it>being down regulated in both organs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The loss of <it>Eya3 </it>in the mouse has no apparent effect on eye development. The wide-spread expression of <it>Eya3 </it>in mouse and zebrafish embryos is in contrast to the restricted expression pattern in <it>Xenopus </it>embryos. The loss of <it>Eya3 </it>in mice leads to a broad spectrum of minor physiological changes. Among them, the mutant mice move less than the wild-type mice and, together with the effects on respiratory, muscle and heart function, the mutation might lead to more severe effects when the mice become older. Therefore, future investigations of <it>Eya3 </it>function should focus on aging mice.</p

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

On the Nature of Murine Radiation-Induced Subcapsular Cataracts: Optical Coherence Tomography-Based Fine Classification, In Vivo Dynamics and Impact on Visual Acuity

Ionizing radiation is widely known to induce various kinds of lens cataracts, of which posterior subcapsular cataracts (PSCs) have the highest prevalence. Despite some studies regarding the epidemiology and biology of radiation-induced PSCs, the mechanism underscoring the formation of this type of lesions and their dose dependency remain uncertain. Within the current study, our team investigated the in vivo characteristics of PSCs in B6C3F1 mice (F1-hybrids of BL6 × C3H) that received 0.5–2 Gy γ-ray irradiation after postnatal day 70. For purposes of assessing lenticular damages, spectral domain optical coherence tomography was utilized, and the visual acuity of the mice was measured to analyze their levels of visual impairment, and histological sections were then prepared in to characterize in vivo phenotypes. Three varying in vivo phenotype anterior and posterior lesions were thus revealed and correlated with the applied doses to understand their marginal influence on the visual acuity of the studied mice. Histological data indicated no significantly increased odds ratios for PSCs below a dose of 1 Gy at the end of the observation time. Furthermore, our team demonstrated that when the frequencies of the posterior and anterior lesions were calculated at early time points, their responses were in accordance with a deterministic model, whereas at later time points, their responses were better described via a stochastic model. The current study will aid in honing the current understanding of radiation-induced cataract formation and contributes greatly to addressing the fundamental questions of lens dose response within the field of radiation biology

Radiation-induced lens opacities: Epidemiological, clinical and experimental evidence, methodological issues, research gaps and strategy

International audienceIn 2011, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended reducing the occupational equivalent dose limit for the lens of the eye from 150 mSv/year to 20 mSv/year, averaged over five years, with no single year exceeding 50 mSv. With this recommendation, several important assumptions were made, such as lack of dose rate effect, classification of cataracts as a tissue reaction with a dose threshold at 0.5 Gy, and progression of minor opacities into vision-impairing cataracts.However, although new dose thresholds and occupational dose limits have been set for radiation-induced cataract, ICRP clearly states that the recommendations are chiefly based on epidemiological evidence because there are a very small number of studies that provide explicit biological and mechanistic evidence at doses under 2 Gy.Since the release of the 2011 ICRP statement, the Multidisciplinary European Low Dose Initiative (MELODI) supported in April 2019 a scientific workshop that aimed to review epidemiological, clinical and biological evidence for radiation-induced cataracts.The purpose of this article is to present and discuss recent related epidemiological and clinical studies, ophthalmic examination techniques, biological and mechanistic knowledge, and to identify research gaps, towards the implementation of a research strategy for future studies on radiation-induced lens opacities.The authors recommend particularly to study the effect of ionizing radiation on the lens in the context of the wider, systemic effects, including in the retina, brain and other organs, and as such cataract is recommended to be studied as part of larger scale programs focused on multiple radiation health effects

<i>RCO015</i> mutants and identification of the underlying mutation.

<p>a) A heterozygous (left) and homozygous (middle) <i>RCO015</i> mutant mouse at the age of 9 months compared to a wild type (right). The homozygous mutants are smaller and have rough hair and small eyes. b) Haplotype analysis defines the critical interval between the markers <i>116J6</i>.<i>1</i> and <i>D7Mit294</i> at mouse chromosome 7.</p

Histology.

<p>Histological sections from embryonic day 17.5 (E.17.5) till postnatal day 14 (P14) are given in an overview (left panel) and in a higher magnification of the anterior/equatorial region in the right panel of wild types, heterozygous and homozygous mutants. Cataract formation starts after birth in the homozygous mutants only. The first signs are vacuoles in the posterior cortical region of newborn mice (P1, red arrows), which are compressed later by the growing lens (P7, red arrow). Finally, they give rise to the sharp boundaries in the cortical region (P14, red arrow) being observed in the isolated lenses (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0125304#pone.0125304.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2A</a>). The bars indicate the magnification of the individual figures; the lenses of the homozygous mutants are shown in an even higher magnification than the heterozygotes to demonstrate the pathological processes in more detail.</p

Sequence analysis of <i>Ercc2</i> gene.

<p>Schematic drawing of the mouse <i>Ercc2</i> gene (ENSEMBL); the red arrow points to the site of the mutation in exon 23. Sanger sequencing confirmed the exome sequencing data (c.2209T->C; red arrows); the frame of the sequence trace is indicated by placing a bar over the mutant codon. The changes in the amino acid sequence (Ser737Pro) are given below; the underlined DNA sequence demonstrates the new <i>Mwo</i>I restriction site in the mutants.</p

DNA repair after ionizing radiation.

<p>The remaining DNA damage after irradiation of isolated peripheral mouse lymphocytes with 1 Gy (¹³⁷Cs) is given. 77–95 cells of each mouse were counted manually for remaining γH2AX foci 6 hrs after irradiation. It is obvious that the heterozygous mutant show significantly more foci than the wild types indicating that the repair of DNA double-strand breaks in the mutants is not as efficient as in the wild types (p = 0.006602). The columns represent the means of foci per nucleus from 3 males of each phenotype; bars indicate the standard error of the mean (SEM).</p