Generating systems and representability for symplectic capacities

We consider the problem by K. Cieliebak, H. Hofer, J. Latschev, and F. Schlenk (CHLS) that is concerned with finding a minimal generating system for (symplectic) capacities on a given symplectic category. We show that under some mild hypotheses every countably Borel-generating set of (normalized) capacities has cardinality bigger than the continuum. This appears to be the first result regarding the problem of CHLS, except for a result by D. McDuff, stating that the ECH-capacities are monotonely generating for the category of ellipsoids in dimension 4. Under the same mild hypotheses we also prove that almost no normalized capacity is domain- or target-representable. This provides some solutions to two central problems by CHLS. In addition, we prove that every finitely differentiably generating system of symplectic capacities on a given symplectic category is uncountable, provided that the category contains a one-parameter family of symplectic manifolds that is "strictly volume-increasing" and "embedding-capacity-wise constant". It follows that the Ekeland-Hofer capacities and the volume capacity do not finitely differentiably generate all generalized capacities on the category of ellipsoids. This answers a variant of a question by CHLS

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF CHAMOMILE ESSENTIAL OIL IN MICE

ABSTRACT Essential oils are plant secondary metabolites with positive pharmacological properties, e.g. anti-oxidative, antimicrobial or immunomodulative, but they can have toxic and allergic effects as well. The aim of this study was to analyze anti-inflammatory effects of chamomile essential oil dietary administration in carrageenan paw oedema and trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) colitis. Mice received chamomile essential oil in three concentrations (5000, 2500 and 1250 ppm) in the standard rodent diet starting two weeks before induction of carrageenan paw oedema and TNBS colitis. Dietary supplementations with 5000 ppm of chamomile essential oil significantly reduced both the oedema and the weight of mice paws compared with control. The same dose of chamomile essential oil showed protective effect on colonic mucosa and improved macroscopic signs of TNBS-induced colonic inflammation. Bacterial translocation from the lumen into the mesenteric lymph nodes was significantly reduced in mice treated with 5000 ppm and 2500 ppm concentrations of chamomile essential oil. Overall our data indicate that chamomile essential oil is able to improve some parameters of murine experimental inflammatory models depending on the concentration used

Maternal High-Energy Diet during Pregnancy and Lactation Impairs Neurogenesis and Alters the Behavior of Adult Offspring in a Phenotype-Dependent Manner

Obesity is one of the biggest and most costly health challenges the modern world encounters. Substantial evidence suggests that the risk of metabolic syndrome or obesity formation may be affected at a very early stage of development, in particular through fetal and/or neonatal overfeeding. Outcomes from epidemiological studies indicate that maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation has a profound impact on adult neurogenesis in the offspring. In the present study, an intergenerational dietary model employing overfeeding of experimental mice during prenatal and early postnatal development was applied to acquire mice with various body conditions. We investigated the impact of the maternal high-energy diet during pregnancy and lactation on adult neurogenesis in the olfactory neurogenic region involving the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the rostral migratory stream (RMS) and some behavioral tasks including memory, anxiety and nociception. Our findings show that a maternal high-energy diet administered during pregnancy and lactation modifies proliferation and differentiation, and induced degeneration of cells in the SVZ/RMS of offspring, but only in mice where extreme phenotype, such as significant overweight/adiposity or obesity is manifested. Thereafter, a maternal high-energy diet enhances anxiety-related behavior in offspring regardless of its body condition and impairs learning and memory in offspring with an extreme phenotype

The Responses of Mouse Preimplantation Embryos to Leptin In Vitro in a Transgenerational Model for Obesity

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that leptin can directly mediate the negative effect of maternal obesity on preimplantation embryos. As previously shown, maternal obesity retards early embryonic development in vivo and increases the incidence of apoptosis in blastocysts. When two-cell embryos isolated from control and obese mice were transferred to identical (leptin free) conditions in vitro, no differences in any growth or quality parameters were recorded, including apoptosis incidence in blastocysts. Embryos isolated from control mice responded to transfer to environments with a high concentration of leptin (10 ng/mL) with a significant increase in arrest at the first or subsequent cell cycle. However, the majority of non-arrested embryos developed into blastocysts, showing morphology comparable to those cultured in the leptin-free group. On the other hand, the exposure of embryos isolated from obese mice to high leptin concentration in vitro did not retard their development. Furthermore, these embryos developed into blastocysts, showing a lower incidence of apoptosis. In vivo-developed blastocysts recovered from obese mice showed elevated expression levels of the proapoptotic gene BAX and the insulin-responsive glucose transporter gene SLC2A4. In conclusion, elevated leptin levels have both positive and negative effects on preimplantation embryo development in vitro, a response that likely depends on the body condition of the embryo donor. Moreover, these results suggest that leptin acts as a survival factor rather than an apoptotic inductor in embryonic cells. Since no elevations in the expression of the leptin receptor gene (LEPR) or fat metabolism-associated genes (PLIN2, SLC27A4) were recorded in blastocysts recovered from obese mice, the role of leptin in mediating the effects of obesity on embryos at the peripheral level is likely lower than expected