Portable dynamic fundus instrument

A portable diagnostic image analysis instrument is disclosed for retinal funduscopy in which an eye fundus image is optically processed by a lens system to a charge coupled device (CCD) which produces recordable and viewable output data and is simultaneously viewable on an electronic view finder. The fundus image is processed to develop a representation of the vessel or vessels from the output data

The Quantitative Genetics of Phenotypic Robustness

Phenotypic robustness, or canalization, has been extensively investigated both experimentally and theoretically. However, it remains unknown to what extent robustness varies between individuals, and whether factors buffering environmental variation also buffer genetic variation. Here we introduce a quantitative genetic approach to these issues, and apply this approach to data from three species. In mice, we find suggestive evidence that for hundreds of gene expression traits, robustness is polymorphic and can be genetically mapped to discrete genomic loci. Moreover, we find that the polymorphisms buffering genetic variation are distinct from those buffering environmental variation. In fact, these two classes have quite distinct mechanistic bases: environmental buffers of gene expression are predominantly sex-specific and trans-acting, whereas genetic buffers are not sex-specific and often cis-acting. Data from studies of morphological and life-history traits in plants and yeast support the distinction between polymorphisms buffering genetic and environmental variation, and further suggest that loci buffering different types of environmental variation do overlap with one another. These preliminary results suggest that naturally occurring polymorphisms affecting phenotypic robustness could be abundant, and that these polymorphisms may generally buffer either genetic or environmental variation, but not both

The effect of exercise induced hyperthermia on muscle fibre conduction velocity during sustained isometric contraction

This study investigated the effect of dynamic exercise in a hot environment on muscle fibre conduction velocity (MFCV) of the knee extensors during a sustained isometric contraction. Seven trained male cyclists (mean [±SD], age, and V_ O2max were 35 ± 9.9 and 57.4 ± 6.6 ml kg1 min1) cycled for 50 min at 60% of peak power output in either: (1) 40 C (HOT); or (2) 19 C (NEUTRO); and (3) remained passive in 40 C (PASS). Post-intervention a 100 s maximal sustained isometric contraction (SMC) of the knee extensors was performed. Rectal temperature increased (p < 0.01) for both HOT and NEUTRO with PASS unchanged and with HOT rising higher (p < 0.01) than NEUTRO (38.6 ± 0.4 vs. 37.6 ± 0.4 C). Muscle temperature increased (p < 0.01) for all three conditions with HOT rising the highest (p < 0.01) (40.3 ± 0.5 vs. 38.3 ± 0.3 and 37.6 ± 1.3 C for NEUTRO and PASS, respectively). Lactate showed higher accumulation (p < 0.01) for HOT than NEUTRO (6.9 ± 2.3 vs. 4.2 ± 2.1 mmol l1). During SMC the torque, electromyography root mean squared (RMS) and MFCV all significantly (p < 0.01) declined. Only in HOT did MFCV decline significantly (p < 0.01) less than torque and RMS (9.9 ± 6.2% vs. 37.5 ± 17.8% and 37.6 ± 21.4%, respectively). In conclusion, during exercise induced hyperthermia, reduced motor unit recruitment as opposed to slower conducting properties of the muscle fibre appears to be responsible for the greater reduction in torque output

The effect of PEPCK if the the transcription fact dFOXO is knocked down

Cell Biology has evolved throughout the years from Hooke describing a cell for the first time to CRISPR now allowing scientists to think about gene editing. This experiment we will be using one of these advancements to see the effect on PEPCK when dFOXO is knocked down. The gene; PEPCK stands for Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, this enzyme typically is involved and is a key enzyme for the liver and the kidney. The transcription factor that will be inhibited is called FOXO, where transcription factors are binded to the target gene and begin to affect the development and metabolism. The results we hope to discover is that the inhibition of dFOXO will greatly affect PEPCK by not letting it be expressive. In a greater scale this experiment could discover another crucial inhibition of a transcription factor and gene expression combination

HI Power Spectra and the Turbulent ISM of Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

HI spatial power spectra (PS) were determined for a sample of 24 nearby dwarf irregular galaxies selected from the LITTLE THINGS (Local Irregulars That Trace Luminosity Extremes - The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey) sample. The two-dimensional (2D) power spectral indices asymptotically become a constant for each galaxy when a significant part of the line profile is integrated. For narrow channel maps, the PS become shallower as the channel width decreases, and this shallowing trend continues to our single channel maps. This implies that even the highest velocity resolution of 1.8 km/s is not smaller than the thermal dispersion of the coolest, widespread HI component. The one-dimensional PS of azimuthal profiles at different radii suggest that the shallower PS for narrower channel width is mainly contributed by the inner disks, which indicates that the inner disks have proportionally more cooler HI than the outer disks. Galaxies with lower luminosity (M_B > -14.5 mag) and star formation rate (SFR, log(SFR (M\odot/yr)) < -2.1) tend to have steeper PS, which implies that the HI line-of-sight depths can be comparable with the radial length scales in low mass galaxies. A lack of a correlation between the inertial-range spectral indices and SFR surface density implies that either non-stellar power sources are playing a fundamental role in driving the interstellar medium (ISM) turbulent structure, or the nonlinear development of turbulent structures has little to do with the driving sources.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by Ap

Scotland Registry for Ankylosing Spondylitis (SIRAS) – Protocol

Funding SIRAS was funded by unrestricted grants from Pfizer and AbbVie. The project was reviewed by both companies, during the award process, for Scientific merit, to ensure that the design did not compromise patient safety, and to assess the global regulatory implications and any impact on regulatory strategy.Publisher PD

The effects of heat stress on neuromuscular activity during endurance exercise

This study analysed the effect of hot (35 C) and cold (15 C) environments on electromyographic (EMG) signal characteristics, skin and rectal temperatures and heart rate during progressive endurance exercise. Eight healthy subjects performed three successive 15-min rides at 30%, 50% and 70% of their peak sustained power output and then cycled at increasing (15 W/min) work rates to exhaustion in both 35 C and 15 C environments. Skin and rectal temperatures, heart rate and EMG data were measured during the trials. The skin temperatures were higher and the subjects felt more uncomfortable in the hot conditions (Bedford scale) (P&lt;0.01). Rectal temperature was slightly, but not significantly, higher under hot conditions. Heart rate was significantly higher in the hot group (between condition P&lt;0.05). Peak power output (267.4&euro;67.7 W vs. 250.1&euro;61.5 W) and time-toexhaustion (55.7&euro;16.7 min vs. 54.5&euro;17.1 min) (COLD vs. HOT) were not different between conditions. There were no differences in integrated EMG (IEMG) or mean power frequency spectrum between conditions. Rating of perceived exertion increased similarly in both conditions over time. Although the hot conditions increased heart rate and skin temperature, there were no differences in muscle recruitment or maximal performance, which suggests that the thermal stress of 35 C, in combination with exercise, did not impair maximal performance in this study

Caffeine ingestion does not alter performance during a 100-km cycling time-trial performance

This study analyzed the effect of caffeine ingestion on performance during a repeated-measures, 100-km, laboratory cycling time trial that included bouts of 1- and 4-km high intensity epochs (HIE). Eight highly trained cyclists participated in 3 separate trials - placebo ingestion before exercise with a placebo carbohydrate solution and placebo tablets during exercise (Pl), or placebo ingestion before exercise with a 7% carbohydrate drink and placebo tablets during exercise (Cho), or caffeine tablet ingestion before and during exercise with 7% carbohydrate (Caf). Placebo (twice) or 6 mg &middot; kg-1 caffeine was ingested 60 min prior to starting 1 of the 3 cycling trials, during which subjects ingested either additional placebos or a caffeine maintenance dose of 0.33 mg &middot; kg-1 every 15 min to trial completion. The 100-km time trial consisted of five 1-km HIE after 10, 32, 52, 72, and 99 km, as well as four 4-km HIE after 20, 40, 60, and 80 km. Subjects were instructed to complete the time trial and all HIE as fast as possible. Plasma (caffeine) was significantly higher during Caf (0.43 &plusmn; 0.56 and 1.11 &plusmn; 1.78 mM pre vs. post Pl; and 47.32 &plusmn; 12.01 and 72.43 &plusmn; 29.08 mM pre vs. post Caf). Average power, HIE time to completion, and 100-km time to completion were not different between trials. Mean heart rates during both the 1-km HIE (184.0 &plusmn; 9.8 Caf; 177.0 &plusmn; 5.8 Pl; 177.4 &plusmn; 8.9 Cho) and 4-km HIE (181.7 &plusmn; 5.7 Caf; 174.3 &plusmn; 7.2 Pl; 175.6 &plusmn; 7.6 Cho;p less than .05) was higher in Caf than in the other groups. No significant differences were found between groups for either EMG amplitude (IEMG) or mean power frequency spectrum (MPFS). IEMG activity and performance were not different between groups but were both higher in the 1-km HIE, indicating the absence of peripheral fatigue and the presence of a centrally-regulated pacing strategy that is not altered by caffeine ingestion. Caffeine may be without ergogenic benefit during endurance exercise in which the athlete begins exercise with a defined, predetermined goal measured as speed or distance

Needles in the Haystack: Identifying Individuals Present in Pooled Genomic Data

Recent publications have described and applied a novel metric that quantifies the genetic distance of an individual with respect to two population samples, and have suggested that the metric makes it possible to infer the presence of an individual of known genotype in a sample for which only the marginal allele frequencies are known. However, the assumptions, limitations, and utility of this metric remained incompletely characterized. Here we present empirical tests of the method using publicly accessible genotypes, as well as analytical investigations of the method's strengths and limitations. The results reveal that the null distribution is sensitive to the underlying assumptions, making it difficult to accurately calibrate thresholds for classifying an individual as a member of the population samples. As a result, the false-positive rates obtained in practice are considerably higher than previously believed. However, despite the metric's inadequacies for identifying the presence of an individual in a sample, our results suggest potential avenues for future research on tuning this method to problems of ancestry inference or disease prediction. By revealing both the strengths and limitations of the proposed method, we hope to elucidate situations in which this distance metric may be used in an appropriate manner. We also discuss the implications of our findings in forensics applications and in the protection of GWAS participant privacy