Effects of Type 1 Diabetes on the Mechanoreflex in Rats

Mechanical allodynia is present as early as four days post streptozotocin (STZ) injection in type 1 diabetic (T1DM) rats. This is thought to occur through mechanisms affecting the same thin fiber afferents that evoke the mechanoreflex. PURPOSE: In this study, we attempted to determine the effects of T1DM on the mechanoreflex. METHODS: We injected (i.p.) 50 mg/kg of Streptozotocin (STZ) or the vehicle (CTL) in either sex Sprague Dawley rat and waited 1 week (STZ: BW=258±31 g, glucose=448±88 mg/dL, HbA1C=6.4±1.0%; CTL: BW=318±54 g, glucose=175±48 mg/dL, HbA1C=4.3±0.2%). On the day of experiment, the right jugular vein and both carotid arteries were cannulated to inject fluids and to measure blood pressure and heart rate, respectively. The rat was placed in a Kopf stereotaxic frame and spinal unit to perform a precollicular decerebration that allowed for termination of anesthesia. The musculature of the left hindlimb was exposed and the Achilles tendon was attached to a force transducer. The tendon was then stretched for 30 seconds using a rack and pinion and the pressor and cardioaccelerator responses were measured. RESULTS: We found that the pressor (STZ: ΔMAP=42.11±8 mmHg, n=9; CTL: ΔMAP=18.67±4 mmHg, n=6; p=0.02) but not the cardioaccelerator (STZ: ΔHR=13.67±3 bpm, n=9; CTL: ΔHR=9.67±2 bpm, n=6; p=0.22) responses to tendon stretch were exaggerated 1 week after injecting STZ. Both diabetic and control rats developed similar tensions with tendon stretch. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the mechanoreflex is augmented in T1DM rats. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms involved in this augmentation

Are CDI Systems Multicolored, Facultative, Helping Greenbeards?

Competitive and cooperative interactions between organisms, including bacteria, can significantly impact the composition of a community and the fitness of its members, as well as the fitness of their hosts when communities are living on or within other organisms. Understanding the underlying mechanisms is critical to the development of strategies to control microbiological communities that impact animal and plant health and also for understanding the evolution of social behaviors, which has been challenging for evolutionary biologists. Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) is a phenomenon defined by the delivery of a protein toxin to the cytoplasm of neighboring bacteria upon cell–cell contact, resulting in growth inhibition or death unless a specific immunity protein is present. CDI was first described based on observations of interbacterial killing and has been assumed to function primarily as a means of eliminating competitor cells. However, recent molecular evidence indicates that multiple levels of specificity restrict CDI toxin delivery and activity to the same bacterial strain, and that CDI system proteins can mediate cooperative behaviors among ‘self’ cells, a phenomenon called contact-dependent signaling (CDS). Here we review these recent findings and discuss potential biological and evolutionary implications of CDI system-mediated interbacterial competition and cooperation

Methylation of the Gpat2 promoter regulates transient expression during mouse spermatogenesis

Spermatogenesis is a highly regulated process that involves both mitotic and meiotic divisions, as well as cellular differentiation to yield mature spermatozoa from undifferentiated germinal stem cells. Although Gpat2 was originally annotated as a glycerol-3-phospate acyltransferase by sequence homology to Gpat1 , GPAT2 is highly expressed in testis but not in lipogenic tissues and is not up-regulated during adipocyte differentiation. New data show that GPAT2 is required for the synthesis of piRNAs, a group of small RNAs that protect the germ cell genome from retrotransposable elements. In order to understand the relationship between GPAT2 and its role in the testis, we focused on Gpat2 expression during the first wave of mouse spermatogenesis. Gpat2 expression was analyzed by qPCR, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Gpat2 mRNA content and protein expression were maximal at 15 dpp and restricted to pachytene spermatocytes. To achieve this transient expression, both epigenetic mechanisms and trans-acting factors are involved. In vitro assays showed that Gpat2 expression correlates with DNA demethylation and histone acetylation and that it is up-regulated by retinoic acid. Epigenetic regulation by DNA methylation was confirmed in vivo in germ cells by bisulfite sequencing of the Gpat2 promoter. Consistent with the initiation of meiosis at 11 dpp, methylation decreased dramatically. Thus, Gpat2 is expressed at a specific stage of spermatogenesis, consistent with piRNA synthesis and meiosis I prophase, and its on-off expression pattern responds predominantly to epigenetic modifications.Fil: Garcia Fabiani, Maria Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata ; ArgentinaFil: Montanaro, Mauro Aldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata ; ArgentinaFil: Lacunza, Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Cattaneo, Elizabeth Renee. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata ; ArgentinaFil: Coleman, Rosalind A.. University of North Carolina; Estados UnidosFil: Pellon Maison, Magali. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata ; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez-Baró; MR. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plata ; Argentin

Protein, iron, and meat consumption and risk for rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study

A recent prospective study showed that higher consumption of red meat and total protein was associated with increased risk for inflammatory polyarthritis. We therefore prospectively examined the relationship between diet (in particular, protein, iron, and corresponding food sources) and incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among 82,063 women in the Nurses' Health Study. From 1980 to 2002, 546 incident cases of RA were confirmed by a connective tissue disease screening questionnaire and medical record review for American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA. Diet was assessed at baseline in 1980 and five additional times during follow up. We conducted Cox proportional hazards analyses to calculate the rate ratio of RA associated with intakes of protein (total, animal, and vegetable) and iron (total, dietary, from supplements, and heme iron) and their primary food sources, adjusting for age, smoking, body mass index, and reproductive factors. The multivariate models revealed no association between RA and any measure of protein or iron intake. In comparisons of highest with lowest quintiles of intake, the rate ratio for total protein was 1.17 (95% confidence interval 0.89–1.54; P for trend = 0.11) and for total iron it was 1.04 (95% confidence interval 0.77–1.41; P for trend = 0.82). Red meat, poultry, and fish were also not associated with RA risk. We were unable to confirm that there is an association between protein or meat and risk for RA in this large female cohort. Iron was also not associated with RA in this cohort

The Psychology of Engagement with Indigenous Identities: A Cultural Perspective

(c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.A questionnaire study among 124 students at Haskell Indian Nations University investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Indigenous identity—assessed along 3 dimensions including degree (identification scale), content (pan-ethnic or tribal nation), and context (reservation or non-reservation)—can serve as a psychological resource for well-being and liberation from oppression. Consistent with this hypothesis, degree of identification was positively correlated with community efficacy and perception of racism. Apparently inconsistent with this hypothesis, degree of identification among students who had resided on a reservation was negatively correlated with the social self-esteem subscale of the Current Thoughts Scale (Heatherton & Polivy, 1991). Rather than evidence against the identity-as-resource hypothesis, this pattern may reflect the cultural grounding of self-esteem and tools designed to measure it

Kinematic Evidence of Minor Mergers in Normal Sa Galaxies: NGC3626, NGC3900, NGC4772 and NGC5854

BVRI and H-alpha imaging and long-slit optical spectroscopic data are presented for four morphologically normal and relatively isolated Sa galaxies, NGC3626, NGC3900, NGC4772 and NGC5854. VLA HI synthesis imaging is presented for the first 3 objects. In all 4 galaxies, evidence of kinematic decoupling of ionized gas components is found; the degree and circumstances of the distinct kinematics vary from complete counterrotation of all of the gas from all of the stars (NGC3626) to nuclear gas disks decoupled from the stars (NGC5854) to anomalous velocity central gas components (NGC3900 and NGC4772). In the 3 objects mapped in HI, the neutral gas extends far beyond the optical radius, R_HI/R_25 > 2. In general, the HI surface density is very low and the outer HI is patchy and asymmetric or found in a distinct ring, exterior to the optical edge. While the overall HI velocity fields are dominated by circular motions, strong warps are suggested in the outer regions. Optical imaging is also presented for NGC 4138 previously reported by Jore et al. (1996) to show counterrotating stellar components. The multiwavelength evidence is interpreted in terms of the kinematic "memory" of past minor mergers in objects that otherwise exhibit no morphological signs of interaction.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Astron. J., postscript figures available at ftp://culebra.tn.cornell.edu/pub/haynes/figures.tar.g

Strengthening Mentoring in Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Advance Global Health Research: An Overview.

Mentoring is a proven path to scientific progress, but it is not a common practice in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Existing mentoring approaches and guidelines are geared toward high-income country settings, without considering in detail the differences in resources, culture, and structure of research systems of LMICs. To address this gap, we conducted five Mentoring-the-Mentor workshops in Africa, South America, and Asia, which aimed at strengthening the capacity for evidence-based, LMIC-specific institutional mentoring programs globally. The outcomes of the workshops and two follow-up working meetings are presented in this special edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Seven articles offer recommendations on how to tailor mentoring to the context and culture of LMICs, and provide guidance on how to implement mentoring programs. This introductory article provides both a prelude and executive summary to the seven articles, describing the motivation, cultural context and relevant background, and presenting key findings, conclusions, and recommendations

The PROMIS satisfaction with social participation measures demonstrated responsiveness in diverse clinical populations

To conduct a longitudinal evaluation of PROMIS® Social Function measures (Satisfaction with Participation in Social Roles, and Satisfaction with Participation in Discretionary Social Activities) in English-speaking people with chronic health conditions

The Effects Of Water Utility Pricing On Low Income Consumers

This study reviews ten water utilities in Florida utilizing current pricing models to determine how municipal utilities approach affordability.  Water is no longer a commodity that can be taken for granted as the effects on the family budget has risen considerably in the past couple of decades. Increasing costs in capital, debt, personnel, chemicals, retrieval, and production have dramatically increased the price of water.  Municipalities are faced with diminishing resources, escalating costs, and the need to consider those less fortunate when determining utility pricing.  This research reviews programs available to utilities to offset the effect on capital requirements if municipalities adapt a low income friendly pricing model.  Ten Florida municipalities are examined utilizing data from the 2012 Water and Wastewater Rate Study conducted for the American Water Works Association.   Additionally, affordability programs for all ten municipalities are reviewed.

Inguinal plasty and appendectomy as treatment for Amyand's hernia: case report and literature review

Amyand's hernia is described as the presence of the caecal appendix within the hernial sac of an incarcerated inguinal hernia. It was reported as an incidental finding in 1% of cases and with evidence of appendicitis in 0.1% of cases. The approach involves performing appendectomy and inguinal repair in the same surgical time, depending on the clinical scenario and the surgeon's decisions. We presented the case of a 76-year-old male patient with a diagnosis of Amyand's right inguinal hernia diagnosed during trans-operative right inguinal plasty