Loss of fshr prevents testicular maturation in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.).

Early puberty poses a significant challenge for male Atlantic salmon in aquaculture due to its negative impact on growth and welfare. The regulation of puberty in vertebrates involves 2 key reproductive hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) and their gonadal receptors. In male mice lacking FSH receptor, testes size is reduced, but fertility is maintained, while medaka and zebrafish with a disrupted fshr gene exhibit near normal testis size and fertility. In these fishes both Fsh and Lh are present during puberty and Lh may rescue fertility, while in salmonid fish only Fsh is present in the circulation during puberty. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we produced crispants with a high prevalence of fshr mutations at the target site, which remained fertile, although more than half showed a testis development deviating from wild-type (wt) males

Hypertension and Smoking Are Associated With Reduced Regional Left Ventricular Function in Asymptomatic Individuals The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

ObjectivesThis study sought to test the hypothesis that reduced regional left ventricular (LV) function is associated with traditional risk factors including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and smoking in asymptomatic individuals.BackgroundCoronary artery disease is the main etiology of congestive heart failure in the U.S. and Europe. However, the relationship between risk factors for coronary artery disease and decreased myocardial function has not been studied systematically in asymptomatic individuals.MethodsThe Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) is a cohort study designed to investigate the nature of atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals. A total of 1,184 participants (45 to 84 years old) underwent tagged cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Regional LV function was quantified by analyzing peak systolic circumferential strain (Ecc) in regions corresponding to the left anterior descending (LAD), circumflex (LCX), and right coronary (RCA) territories. The association between risk factors and strains was studied using multiple linear regression.ResultsHigher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was associated with lower Ecc (p ≤ 0.002). The Ecc’s in the LAD territory of participants with DBP <80, 80 to 84, 85 to 89, and ≥90 mm Hg were −15.6%, −14.8%, −14.2%, and −13.7%, respectively (p < 0.001). Similar results were documented in other territories and after multivariable analysis. Smokers had lower Ecc in the LAD and RCA regions compared with nonsmokers. Furthermore, dose response relationship between cigarette consumption measured in pack-years and regional LV dysfunction by Ecc was noted (p ≤ 0.01 in LAD and RCA territories). Finally, combined diastolic hypertension and smoking was associated with a greater reduction of regional LV function.ConclusionsHigher diastolic blood pressure and smoking are associated with decreased regional LV function in asymptomatic individuals

Strategies for radiation dose reduction in nuclear cardiology and cardiac computed tomography imaging: a report from the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), the Cardiovascular Committee of European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), and the European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology (ESCR).

Cardiolog

Loss of Fshr Prevents Testicular Maturation in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Early puberty poses a significant challenge for male Atlantic salmon in aquaculture due to its negative impact on growth and welfare. The regulation of puberty in vertebrates involves 2 key reproductive hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) and their gonadal receptors. In male mice lacking FSH receptor, testes size is reduced, but fertility is maintained, while medaka and zebrafish with a disrupted fshr gene exhibit near normal testis size and fertility. In these fishes both Fsh and Lh are present during puberty and Lh may rescue fertility, while in salmonid fish only Fsh is present in the circulation during puberty. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we produced crispants with a high prevalence of fshr mutations at the target site, which remained fertile, although more than half showed a testis development deviating from wild-type (wt) males. Crossing out these F0 crispants to each other produced a viable F1 generation showing frameshift (fshr−/−) or in-frame mutations (fshrif/if). Nearly all wt males matured while all fshr−/− males remained immature with small testes containing A spermatogonia as the furthest developed germ cell type and prepubertal plasma androgen levels. Also, the pituitary transcript levels of gnrhr2bba and lhb, but not for fshb, were reduced in the fshr−/− males compared with maturing males. More than half of the fshrif/if mutant males showed no or a delayed maturation. In conclusion, Atlantic salmon show the unique characteristic that loss of Fshr function alone results in male infertility, offering new opportunities to control precocious puberty or fertility in salmon

A new 2D-based method for myocardial velocity strain and strain rate quantification in a normal adult and paediatric population: assessment of reference values

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent advances in technology have provided the opportunity for off-line analysis of digital video-clips of two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiographic images.</p> <p>Commercially available software that follows the motion of cardiac structures during cardiac cycle computes both regional and global velocity, strain, and strain rate (SR).</p> <p>The present study aims to evaluate the clinical applicability of the software based on the tracking algorithm feature (studied for cardiology purposes) and to derive the reference values for longitudinal and circumferential strain and SR of the left ventricle in a normal population of children and young adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>45 healthy volunteers (30 adults: 19 male, 11 female, mean age 37 ± 6 years; 15 children: 8 male, 7 female, mean age 8 ± 2 years) underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination; 2D cine-loops recordings of apical 4-four 4-chamber (4C) and 2-chamber (2C) views and short axis views were stored for off-line analysis.</p> <p>Computer analyses were performed using specific software relying on the algorithm of optical flow analysis, specifically designed to track the endocardial border, installed on a Windows™ based computer workstation. Inter and intra-observer variability was assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The feasibility of measurements obtained with tissue tracking system was higher in apical view (100% for systolic events; 64% for diastolic events) than in short axis view (70% for systolic events; 52% for diastolic events). Longitudinal systolic velocity decreased from base to apex in all subjects (5.22 ± 1.01 vs. 1.20 ± 0.88; p < 0.0001). Longitudinal strain and SR significantly increased from base to apex in all subjects (-12.95 ± 6.79 vs. -14.87 ± 6.78; p = 0.002; -0.72 ± 0.39 vs. -0.94 ± 0.48, p = 0.0001, respectively). Similarly, circumferential strain and SR increased from base to apex (-21.32 ± 5.15 vs. -27.02 ± 5.88, p = 0.002; -1.51 ± 0.37 vs. -1.95 ± 0.57, p = 0.003, respectively).</p> <p>Values of global systolic SR, both longitudinal and circumferential, were significantly higher in children than in adults (-1.3 ± 0.2, vs. -1.11 ± 0.2, p = 0.006; -1.9 ± 0.6 vs. -1.6 ± 0.5, p = 0.0265, respectively). No significant differences in longitudinal and circumferential systolic velocities were identified for any segment when comparing adults with children.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This 2D based tissue tracking system used for computation is reliable and applicable in adults and children particularly for systolic events. Measured with this technology, we have established reference values for myocardial velocity, Strain and SR for both young adults and children.</p

Plant communities as a tool in temporary ponds conservation in SW Portugal

Pond conservationTemporary ponds are seasonal wetlands annually subjected to extreme and unstable ecological conditions, neither truly aquatic nor truly terrestrial. This habitat and its flora have been poorly studied and documented because of the ephemeral character of the flora, the changeable annual weather that has a great effect on the small, herbaceous taxa and the declining abundance of temporary ponds. The objectives of this study are: (a) to define plant community diversity in terms of floristic composition of ephemeral wetlands in SW Portugal, (b) to identify temporary pond types according to their vegetation composition and (c) to identify those ponds that configure the European community priority habitat (3170* – Mediterranean temporary ponds). Vegetation sampling was conducted in 29 ponds, identifying 168 species grouped among 15 plant communities. Soil texture, pH, organic C and N content were measured, but only N and percent of clay appear to be related with the distribution of each community type. The results showed that ephemeral wetlands could be classified into four type: vernal pools, marshlands, deep ponds and disturbed wetlands. Vernal pools correspond to the Mediterranean temporary ponds (3170*), protected as priority habitat under the EU Habitats Directive. Submersed Isoetes species (Isoetes setaceum and Isoetes velatum) represents, together with Eryngium corniculatum, the indicator species for vernal pools. We identify also indicator plant communities of this priority habitat, namely I. setaceum and E. corniculatum– Baldellia ranunculoides plant communities. In this region, the conservation of temporary ponds has so far been compatible with traditional agricultural activities, but today these ponds are endangered by the intensification of agriculture and the loss of traditional land use practices and by the development of touris

Pre-Bilaterian Origins of the Hox Cluster and the Hox Code: Evidence from the Sea Anemone, Nematostella vectensis

BACKGROUND: Hox genes were critical to many morphological innovations of bilaterian animals. However, early Hox evolution remains obscure. Phylogenetic, developmental, and genomic analyses on the cnidarian sea anemone Nematostella vectensis challenge recent claims that the Hox code is a bilaterian invention and that no “true” Hox genes exist in the phylum Cnidaria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Phylogenetic analyses of 18 Hox-related genes from Nematostella identify putative Hox1, Hox2, and Hox9+ genes. Statistical comparisons among competing hypotheses bolster these findings, including an explicit consideration of the gene losses implied by alternate topologies. In situ hybridization studies of 20 Hox-related genes reveal that multiple Hox genes are expressed in distinct regions along the primary body axis, supporting the existence of a pre-bilaterian Hox code. Additionally, several Hox genes are expressed in nested domains along the secondary body axis, suggesting a role in “dorsoventral” patterning. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A cluster of anterior and posterior Hox genes, as well as ParaHox cluster of genes evolved prior to the cnidarian-bilaterian split. There is evidence to suggest that these clusters were formed from a series of tandem gene duplication events and played a role in patterning both the primary and secondary body axes in a bilaterally symmetrical common ancestor. Cnidarians and bilaterians shared a common ancestor some 570 to 700 million years ago, and as such, are derived from a common body plan. Our work reveals several conserved genetic components that are found in both of these diverse lineages. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that a set of developmental rules established in the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians is still at work today