Wnt-Dependent Oligodendroglial-Endothelial Interactions Regulate White Matter Vascularization and Attenuate Injury.

Recent studies have indicated oligodendroglial-vascular crosstalk during brain development, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. We report that oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) contact sprouting endothelial tip cells in mouse, ferret, and human neonatal white matter. Using transgenic mice, we show that increased or decreased OPC density results in cognate changes in white matter vascular investment. Hypoxia induced increases in OPC numbers, vessel density and endothelial cell expression of the Wnt pathway targets Apcdd1 and Axin2 in white matter, suggesting paracrine OPC-endothelial signaling. Conditional knockout of OPC Wntless resulted in diminished white matter vascular growth in normoxia, whereas loss of Wnt7a/b function blunted the angiogenic response to hypoxia, resulting in severe white matter damage. These findings indicate that OPC-endothelial cell interactions regulate neonatal white matter vascular development in a Wnt-dependent manner and further suggest this mechanism is important in attenuating hypoxic injury.M.C. acknowledges fellowship awards from the American Heart Association and The Children’s Heart Foundation and funding support from a Career Development Grant awarded by Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation. J.M.G.V is funded by Red deTerapia Celular (TerCel-RD16/0011/0026) and the Valencian Council for Innovation, Universities Science and Digital Society (PROMETEO/2019/075). M.J.U.N was supported by a McDonald Fellowship from the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. This work was supported by funding from the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (to D.H.R.), the Adelson Medical Research Foundation (D.H.R), the European Research Council (D.H.R.) and the National Institutes of Health, NINDS (1K99NS117804 to M.C; P01- NS083513 to D.H.R., E.J.H and P.S.M)

Effect of microencapsulated phenolic compound extracts of Maclura tinctoria (L.) Steud on growth performance and humoral immunity markers of white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei, Boone, 1931) juveniles

Aim of study: The effect of microencapsulated phenolic compound extracts of Maclura tinctoria (MTBE) on growth performance and humoral immunity markers of the white leg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles (0.5 ± 0.2 g initial weight) was studied.Area of study: M. tinctoria was collected from Hampolol, Campeche, and Arroyo del Agua, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.Material and methods: Three MTBE inclusions (0.5, 1, and 2.5 g MTBE/kg, Purina®) were compared with a control commercial feed (Purina®) during 30 days. Nine phenolic acids, nine flavonols, four dihydro-flavonoids, four flavones, and seven unidentified phenolic compounds were determined fin the MTBE using a Perkin Elmer® HPLC chromatograph and diode array-detection.Main results: The mean concentrations of total phenolic compounds, total flavonoid compounds, and condensed tannins were 198.05 ± 5.59 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g-1 dw, 78.57 ± 1.80 quercetin equivalent g-1, and 28.32 ± 0.33 mg epicatechin equivalent g-1, respectively. The ferric reducing antioxidant power and the total antioxidant capacity, respectively, averaged 28.32 mg GAE mL-1 and 10.9 mg ascorbic acid equivalent mL-1. Survival, weight gain, and specific growth rate of L. vannamei were similar among the experimental diets. The dietary inclusion of MTBE at 0.5 g/kg of food showed significant higher (p < 0.05) plasma hemocyte lysate protein (1.35 ± 0.055 µg mL-1), prophenoloxidase (0.47 ± 0.15, Abs. 492 nm), and superoxide anion (O2.-) activity (0.21 ± 0.07, Abs. 630 nm).Research highlights: The supplementation of MTBE at 0.5 g/kg of food could be considered as a potential alternative additive for L. vannamei diet in the juvenile production, since it improved the response of the humoral immunity markers at post larval life stages, when cultivated shrimp are more susceptible to be infected by pathogens

Systematic review of effects on biodiversity from oil palm production

Background: during the past decade there has been a growing interest in bioenergy, driven by concerns about global climate change, growing energy demand, and depleting fossil fuel reserves. The predicted rise in biofuel demand makes it important to understand the potential consequences of expanding biofuel cultivation.A systematic review was conducted on the biodiversity impacts of three first-generation biofuel crops (oil palm, soybean, and jatropha) in the tropics. The study focused on the impacts on species richness, abundance (total number of individuals or occurrences), community composition, and ecosystem functions related to species richness and community composition.Methods: literature was searched using an a priori protocol. Owing to a lack of available studies of biodiversity impacts from soybean and jatropha that met the inclusion criteria set out in the systematic review protocol, all analyses focused on oil palm. The impacts of oil palm cultivation on species richness, abundance, and community similarity were summarized quantitatively; other results were summarized narratively.Results: the searches returned 9143 articles after duplicate removal of which 25 met the published inclusion criteria and were therefore accepted for the final review. Twenty of them had been conducted in Malaysia and two thirds were on arthropods.Overall, oil palm plantations had reduced species richness compared with primary and secondary forests, and the composition of species assemblages changed significantly after forest conversion to oil palm plantation. Abundance showed species-specific responses and hence, the overall abundance was not significantly different between plantations and forest areas. Only one study reported how different production systems (smallholdings vs. industrial estates) affect biodiversity. No studies that examined the effects on ecosystem functions of reduced species richness or changes in community composition met the inclusion criteria. Neither were there studies that reported how areas managed under different standards (e.g. different certification systems) affect biodiversity and ecosystem function.Conclusions: our review suggests that oil palm plantations have reduced species richness compared with primary and secondary forests, and the composition of species assemblage changes significantly after forest conversion to oil palm plantation. Effects of different production systems on biodiversity and ecosystem function are clear knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future researc

Conceptual design and research on the thermal performance of a martian human base

Human arrival on Mars is one of the most ambitious goals of the various space agencies. Although interest in the planet may appear to be recent, there is ample evidence to show that mankind turned its attention to Mars several centuries ago. However, it was not until the dawn of the space age that this interest shifted from mere speculation to a growing body of scientific and technical information. Unlike Earth, Mars is a planet whose current conditions are not suitable for life of any kind. The main aspects that condition the Martian environment, such as the atmosphere, temperature, radiation and soil, will be briefly analysed. The house of the first inhabitants of the red planet must meet a series of basic requirements, including simplicity, strength and ensuring adequate conditions of habitability and psychological well-being. A conceptual habitat design based on a structure manufactured entirely on Earth is presented. One of the most important challenges engineers of the future will face in the event of a human arrival on Mars is the thermal control of houses. Unlike Earth, the average temperature on Mars is around 60 °C, which makes it essential to use very precise thermal control techniques. A theoretical thermal analysis of the designed base will be carried out, checking the influence of a set of parameters, and a particular case will be performed with ESATAN software (a leading tool in the European space sector for ESA missions) together with a sensibility analysis to the thermal model main parameters. The assessment of the location and the daily temperature variation has been analysed to obtain the best thermal criteria for time–space selection of the base. The results showed the relevance of the insulation of the module with respect to the Mars ground. A thermal insulation method should be implemented in order to ensure the inhabitants’ well-being

Primary cilia control oligodendrocyte precursor cell proliferation in white matter injury via Hedgehog-independent CREB signaling.

Remyelination after white matter injury (WMI) often fails in diseases such as multiple sclerosis because of improper recruitment and repopulation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in lesions. How OPCs elicit specific intracellular programs in response to a chemically and mechanically diverse environment to properly regenerate myelin remains unclear. OPCs construct primary cilia, specialized signaling compartments that transduce Hedgehog (Hh) and G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signals. We investigated the role of primary cilia in the OPC response to WMI. Removing cilia from OPCs genetically via deletion of Ift88 results in OPCs failing to repopulate WMI lesions because of reduced proliferation. Interestingly, loss of cilia does not affect Hh signaling in OPCs or their responsiveness to Hh signals but instead leads to dysfunctional cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB)-mediated transcription. Because inhibition of CREB activity in OPCs reduces proliferation, we propose that a GPCR/cAMP/CREB signaling axis initiated at OPC cilia orchestrates OPC proliferation during development and in response to WMI

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW Open Access

Systematic review of effects on biodiversity from oil palm production Savilaakso et al

Enrichment of Adult Artemia Biomass and Squid Mantle Muscle, Dosidicus gigas, with Different Ascorbic Acid (L-Ascorbyl-2- Monophosphate-Na/Ca) Concentrations

L-ascorbyl-2-monophosphate-Na/Ca (AMP-Na/Ca) was used as a vitamin C source to investigate itsascorbic acid (L-AA) enrichment and retention in boosted Artemia biomass (AB) and squid mantlemuscle (SM). Different doses of AMP-Na/Ca (500, 1000, and 1500 AMP-Na/Ca mg/kg) were graduallydissolved into the culture tanks at time 0 (T0) and at each hour until Hour 6 ( T6). Samples of AB and SMwere taken for AMP-Na/Ca and L-AA analysis at T0, T1, T2, T3, T4,T5, T6, T12,andT24. There wereno signicant differences (P > 0.05) among the AB groups at T1.TheT6enrichment analysis for ABresulted in signicant differences (P 0,05) entre los grupos AB en T1. El análisis de enriquecimiento de TAB para el tratamiento de 1500 mg / kg, en el cual se compararon las diferencias significativas (P <0,05) en el contenido de AMP-Na / Ca La concentración inicial (0,001 ± 0,002 mg / kg) aumentó en más de 16 veces. Para todos los tratamientos de ABenrichment, el contenido de AMP-Na / Ca demostró una disminución (32-11%) para el análisis T6, T12 y T24. El análisis de T1 para SM en la concentración más alta de enriquecimiento de AMP-Na / Ca registró 30 mg / kg de L-AA y disminuyó (27,6%) a T6. Este estudio demostró que AB y SM pueden ser potenciados con AMP-Na / Ca