Distribution, Abundance, and Diversity Patterns of the Thermoacidophilic “Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Euryarchaeota 2”

Cultivation-independent studies have shown that taxa belonging to the “deep-sea hydrothermal vent euryarchaeota 2” (DHVE2) lineage are widespread at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. While this lineage appears to be a common and important member of the microbial community at vent environments, relatively little is known about their overall distribution and phylogenetic diversity. In this study, we examined the distribution, relative abundance, co-occurrence patterns, and phylogenetic diversity of cultivable thermoacidophilic DHVE2 in deposits from globally distributed vent fields. Results of quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays with primers specific for the DHVE2 and Archaea demonstrate the ubiquity of the DHVE2 at deep-sea vents and suggest that they are significant members of the archaeal communities of established vent deposit communities. Local similarity analysis of pyrosequencing data revealed that the distribution of the DHVE2 was positively correlated with 10 other Euryarchaeota phylotypes and negatively correlated with mostly Crenarchaeota phylotypes. Targeted cultivation efforts resulted in the isolation of 12 axenic strains from six different vent fields, expanding the cultivable diversity of this lineage to vents along the East Pacific Rise and Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Eleven of these isolates shared greater than 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with one another and the only described isolate of the DHVE2, Aciduliprofundum boonei T469T. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of five protein-coding loci, atpA, EF-2, radA, rpoB, and secY, revealed clustering of isolates according to geographic region of isolation. Overall, this study increases our understanding of the distribution, abundance, and phylogenetic diversity of the DHVE2

Chondrocyte Turnover in Lung Cartilage

Cartilage is a highly differentiated connective tissue that forms mechanical support to soft tissues and is important for bone development from fetal period to puberty. It is conformed by chondrocytes and extracellular matrix. It is generally believed that adult cartilage has no capacity to renewal. A delicate balance between cell proliferation and cell death ensures the maintenance of normal tissue morphology and function. Stem cells play essential roles in this process. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can give rise to multiple lineages including bone, adipose and cartilage. Nestin protein was initially identified as a marker for neural stem cells, but its expression has also been detected in many types of cells, including MSCs. In vivo, chondrocyte turnover has been almost exclusively studied in articular cartilage. In this chapter we will review the findings about the chondrocyte turnover in lung cartilage. We have presented evidence that there exist nestin-positive MSCs in healthy adulthood that participates in the turnover of lung cartilage and in lung airway epithelium renewal. These findings may improve our knowledge about the biology of the cartilage and of the stem cells, and could provide new cell candidates for cartilage tissue engineering and for therapy for devastating pulmonary diseases

Temporal variability is a personalized feature of the human microbiome

Background: It is now apparent that the complex microbial communities found on and in the human body vary across individuals. What has largely been missing from previous studies is an understanding of how these communities vary over time within individuals. To the extent to which it has been considered, it is often assumed that temporal variability is negligible for healthy adults. Here we address this gap in understanding by profiling the forehead, gut (fecal), palm, and tongue microbial communities in 85 adults, weekly over 3 months. Results: We found that skin (forehead and palm) varied most in the number of taxa present, whereas gut and tongue communities varied more in the relative abundances of taxa. Within each body habitat, there was a wide range of temporal variability across the study population, with some individuals harboring more variable communities than others. The best predictor of these differences in variability across individuals was microbial diversity; individuals with more diverse gut or tongue communities were more stable in composition than individuals with less diverse communities. Conclusions: Longitudinal sampling of a relatively large number of individuals allowed us to observe high levels of temporal variability in both diversity and community structure in all body habitats studied. These findings suggest that temporal dynamics may need to be considered when attempting to link changes in microbiome structure to changes in health status. Furthermore, our findings show that, not only is the composition of an individual's microbiome highly personalized, but their degree of temporal variability is also a personalized feature

Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Modeling of the Antinociceptive Effect of Diclofenac in the Rat 1

ABSTRACT The relationship between the pharmacokinetics and the antinociceptive effect of diclofenac was evaluated using the paininduced functional impairment model in the rat. Male Wistar rats were injected with uric acid in the knee joint of the right hind limb, which induced its dysfunction. Once the dysfunction was complete, animals received a p.o. dose of 0.56, 1, 1.8, 3.2, 5.6 or 10 mg/kg of sodium diclofenac, and the antinociceptive effect and drug blood concentration were simultaneously evaluated at selected times for a period of 6 h. Diclofenac produced a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect, measured as a recovery of the functionality of the injured limb. However, the onset of the antinociceptive effect was delayed with respect to blood concentrations. Moreover, the effect lasted longer than expected from pharmacokinetic data. Therefore, when functionality index was plotted against diclofenac blood concentration, an anticlockwise hysteresis loop was observed for all doses. Hysteresis collapse was achieved using the effect-compartment model, and the plot of functionality index against diclofenac concentration in the effect-compartment data was well fitted by the sigmoidal E max model. Our data suggest slow equilibrium kinetics between diclofenac concentration in blood and at its site of action, which leads to a delayed onset of the antinociceptive effect as well as a longer duration of the response resulting from drug accumulation in synovial fluid. Diclofenac is an NSAID that has been shown to be effective for relieving pain in rheumatic and nonrheumatic diseases On the other hand, it has been established that the relationship between pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacologic effect is the basis for a more rational drug regimen design, because it allows prediction of the time course of the intensity of the effect There are reports wherein the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effect of diclofenac cannot be directly explained by circulating concentrations in animals Materials and Methods Animals. Male Wistar rats (weighing, 180-220 g) from our own breeding facilities [Crl:(WI)BR], were used in this study. Animals were housed in a room with controlled temperature (22 Ϯ 1°C) for at least 2 days before the study. Food was withheld for 12 h before the Received for publication May 10, 1996. 1 This work is supported by CONACYT, grant 0250-M. ABBREVIATIONS: AUC, area under the blood concentration-time curve; AUC E , area under the functionality index-time curve; C, blood concentration; C max , maximal concentration; E max , maximal effect; E max obs , maximal observed effect; Ke0, transference rate constant from site effect; PIFIR, pain-induced functional impairment model in the rat; PE, polyethylene; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; FI, functionality index

Collective Phase-like Mode and the Role of Lattice Distortions at TN~TC in RMn2O5 (R= Pr, Sm, Gd, Tb, Bi)

We report on electronic collective excitations in RMn2O5 (R= Pr, Sm, Gd, Tb) showing condensation starting at and below TN\simTC\sim40-50 K. Its origin is understood as partial delocalized eg electron orbitals in the Jahn-Teller distortion of the pyramids dimmer with strong hybridized Mn3+-O bonds. Our local probes, Raman, infrared, and X-ray absorption, back the conclusion by which there is no structural phase transition at TN\simTC. Ferroelectricity is magnetically assisted by electron localization triggering lattice polarizability by unscreening. We have also found phonon hardening as the rare earth is sequentially replaced. This is understood as consequence of lanthanide contraction. It is suggested that partially f-electron screened Rare Earth nuclei might be introducing a perturbation to eg electrons prone to delocalize as the superexchange interaction takes place.Comment: Journal of Physics Cond. Matter April 12, 2012. In pres

Reaction rates and transport in neutron stars

Understanding signals from neutron stars requires knowledge about the transport inside the star. We review the transport properties and the underlying reaction rates of dense hadronic and quark matter in the crust and the core of neutron stars and point out open problems and future directions.Comment: 74 pages; commissioned for the book "Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action MP1304; version 3: minor changes, references updated, overview graphic added in the introduction, improvements in Sec IV.A.

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Microbial Biogeography of Public Restroom Surfaces

We spend the majority of our lives indoors where we are constantly exposed to bacteria residing on surfaces. However, the diversity of these surface-associated communities is largely unknown. We explored the biogeographical patterns exhibited by bacteria across ten surfaces within each of twelve public restrooms. Using high-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene, we identified 19 bacterial phyla across all surfaces. Most sequences belonged to four phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The communities clustered into three general categories: those found on surfaces associated with toilets, those on the restroom floor, and those found on surfaces routinely touched with hands. On toilet surfaces, gut-associated taxa were more prevalent, suggesting fecal contamination of these surfaces. Floor surfaces were the most diverse of all communities and contained several taxa commonly found in soils. Skin-associated bacteria, especially the Propionibacteriaceae, dominated surfaces routinely touched with our hands. Certain taxa were more common in female than in male restrooms as vagina-associated Lactobacillaceae were widely distributed in female restrooms, likely from urine contamination. Use of the SourceTracker algorithm confirmed many of our taxonomic observations as human skin was the primary source of bacteria on restroom surfaces. Overall, these results demonstrate that restroom surfaces host relatively diverse microbial communities dominated by human-associated bacteria with clear linkages between communities on or in different body sites and those communities found on restroom surfaces. More generally, this work is relevant to the public health field as we show that human-associated microbes are commonly found on restroom surfaces suggesting that bacterial pathogens could readily be transmitted between individuals by the touching of surfaces. Furthermore, we demonstrate that we can use high-throughput analyses of bacterial communities to determine sources of bacteria on indoor surfaces, an approach which could be used to track pathogen transmission and test the efficacy of hygiene practices

Apoptosis induction in Jurkat cells and sCD95 levels in women's sera are related with the risk of developing cervical cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Currently, there is clear evidence that apoptosis plays an important role in the development and progression of tumors. One of the best characterized apoptosis triggering systems is the CD95/Fas/APO-1 pathway; previous reports have demonstrated high levels of soluble CD95 (sCD95) in serum of patients with some types of cancer. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. As a first step in an attempt to design a minimally invasive test to predict the risk of developing cervical cancer in patients with precancerous lesions, we used a simple assay based on the capacity of human serum to induce apoptosis in Jurkat cells. We evaluated the relationship between sCD95 levels and the ability to induce apoptosis in Jurkat cells in cervical cancer patients and controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Jurkat cells were exposed to serum from 63 women (20 healthy volunteers, 21 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade I [CIN 1] and 22 with cervical-uterine carcinoma). The apoptotic rate was measured by flow cytometry using Annexin-V-Fluos and Propidium Iodide as markers. Serum levels of sCD95 and soluble CD95 ligand (sCD95L) were measured by ELISA kits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that serum from almost all healthy women induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells, while only fifty percent of the sera from women with CIN 1 induced cell death in Jurkat cells. Interestingly, only one serum sample from a patient with cervical-uterine cancer was able to induce apoptosis, the rest of the sera protected Jurkat cells from this killing. We were able to demonstrate that elimination of Jurkat cells was mediated by the CD95/Fas/Apo-1 apoptotic pathway. Furthermore, the serum levels of sCD95 measured by ELISA were significantly higher in women with cervical cancer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between low levels of sCD95 in serum of normal women and higher apoptosis induction in Jurkat cells. We suggest that an analysis of the apoptotic rate induced by serum in Jurkat cells and the levels of sCD95 in serum could be helpful during the prognosis and treatment of women detected with precancerous lesions or cervical cancer.</p

Long-term thermal sensitivity of Earth’s tropical forests

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the tropics to derive the equilibrium climate controls on forest carbon. Maximum temperature is the most important predictor of aboveground biomass (−9.1 megagrams of carbon per hectare per degree Celsius), primarily by reducing woody productivity, and has a greater impact per °C in the hottest forests (>32.2°C). Our results nevertheless reveal greater thermal resilience than observations of short-term variation imply. To realize the long-term climate adaptation potential of tropical forests requires both protecting them and stabilizing Earth’s climate