1,157 research outputs found
Exploitation promotes earlier sex change in a protandrous patellid limpet, Patella aspera RĂśding, 1798
Exploitation of organisms can prompt the reduction in the number and size of target populations consequently affecting reproductive output and replenishment. Here, we investigated the effects of exploitation on the population structure of a protandrous patellid limpet, Patella aspera, an overexploited Macaronesian endemic. Timed dives were used to collect animals across eleven islands of Macaronesia. Individuals were inspected for sex, size, and gonad stage. Using catch effort (time per person) per island coastal perimeter as a surrogate for exploitation intensity, we found that limpet abundance (CPUE) and mean size tended to decrease with exploitation intensity. When considering the sex of animals separately, the size of the largest male, but not females, decreased with exploitation. In contrast, the size of the smallest male remained relatively consistent, whereas the size of the smallest female decreased significantly with exploitation. As exploitation is mostly targeting larger individuals, results suggest that males are compensating the removal of larger females, by undergoing sex change at smaller and presumably earlier sizes. These results have wider implications for the conservation of P. aspera, as a reduction in female size will likely affect the numbers of oocytes produced, hence fecundity. Regulations promoting the protection of the larger-sized animals should be enforced to safeguard the replenishment of the population
Plasma neurofilament light chain and amyloid-β are associated with the kynurenine pathway metabolites in preclinical Alzheimer's disease
BACKGROUND: Blood markers indicative of neurodegeneration (neurofilament light chain; NFL), Alzheimer's disease amyloid pathology (amyloid-β; Aβ), and neuroinflammation (kynurenine pathway; KP metabolites) have been investigated independently in neurodegenerative diseases. However, the association of these markers of neurodegeneration and AD pathology with neuroinflammation has not been investigated previously. Therefore, the current study examined whether NFL and Aβ correlate with KP metabolites in elderly individuals to provide insight on the association between blood indicators of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. METHODS: Correlations between KP metabolites, measured using liquid chromatography and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and plasma NFL and Aβ concentrations, measured using single molecule array (Simoa) assays, were investigated in elderly individuals aged 65-90âyears, with normal global cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination ScoreââĽâ26) from the Kerr Anglican Retirement Village Initiative in Ageing Health cohort. RESULTS: A positive correlation between NFL and the kynurenine to tryptophan ratio (K/T) reflecting indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity was observed (râ=â.451, pâ<â.0001). Positive correlations were also observed between NFL and kynurenine (râ=â.364, pâ<â.0005), kynurenic acid (râ=â.384, pâ<â.0001), 3-hydroxykynurenine (râ=â.246, pâ=â.014), anthranilic acid (râ=â.311, pâ=â.002), and quinolinic acid (râ=â.296, pâ=â.003). Further, significant associations were observed between plasma Aβ40 and the K/T (râ=â.375, pâ<â.0005), kynurenine (râ=â.374, pâ<â.0005), kynurenic acid (râ=â.352, pâ<â.0005), anthranilic acid (râ=â.381, pâ<â.0005), and quinolinic acid (râ=â.352, pâ<â.0005). Significant associations were also observed between plasma Aβ42 and the K/T ratio (râ=â.215, pâ=â.034), kynurenic acid (râ=â.214, pâ=â.035), anthranilic acid (râ=â.278, pâ=â.006), and quinolinic acid (râ=â.224, pâ=â.027) in the cohort. On stratifying participants based on their neocortical Aβ load (NAL) status, NFL correlated with KP metabolites irrespective of NAL status; however, associations between plasma Aβ and KP metabolites were only pronounced in individuals with high NAL while associations in individuals with low NAL were nearly absent. CONCLUSIONS: The current study shows that KP metabolite changes are associated with biomarker evidence of neurodegeneration. Additionally, the association between KP metabolites and plasma Aβ seems to be NAL status dependent. Finally, the current study suggests that an association between neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation manifests in the periphery, suggesting that preventing cytoskeleton cytotoxicity by KP metabolites may have therapeutic potential
Bilateral inhibition of HAUSP deubiquitinase by a viral interferon regulatory factor protein
Herpesvirus-associated ubiquitin specific protease (HAUSP) regulates the stability of p53 and MDM2, implicating HAUSP as a therapeutic target for tuning p53-mediated anti-tumor activity. Here, we report the structural analysis of HAUSP with Kaposiâs sarcoma-associated herpesvirus vIRF4 and the discovery of two vIRF4-derived peptides, vif1 and vif2, as potent and selective HAUSP antagonists. This analysis reveals a bilateral belt-type interaction resulting in inhibition of HAUSP. The vif1 peptide binds the HAUSP TRAF domain, competitively blocking substrate binding, while the vif2 peptide binds both the HAUSP TRAF and catalytic domains, robustly suppressing its deubiquitination activity. Consequently, peptide treatments comprehensively blocked HAUSP, leading to p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in culture and tumor regression in xenograft mouse model. Thus, the virus has developed a unique molecular strategy to target the HAUSP-MDM2-p53 pathway, and these virus-derived short peptides represent biologically active HAUSP antagonists
Influence of soil water content and atmospheric conditions on leaf water potential in cv. "Touriga Nacional" deep-rooted vineyards
Abstract In this study, the influence of soil and atmosphere
conditions on noon and basal leaf water potential of
vines ââTouriga Nacionalââ in the DaËo region submitted to
different irrigation treatments is analysed. Both indicators
showed to be dependent on environmental conditions at the
time of measurement. Leaf water potential at noon of fully
watered plants was linearly related with atmospheric conditions,
with values registered when vapour pressure deficit
(VPD) was higher than approximately 3 kPa being no
different from the values registered in stressed plants.
Therefore, this indicator cannot be reliably used to distinguish
different plant water stress levels when atmospheric
conditions induce high evaporative demands. The basal
leaf water potential (wb) was also influenced by VPD at the
time of measurement for all soil water conditions. In well
irrigated plants, it was even possible to establish a baseline
that can therefore be used to identify nonwater stressed
conditions (wb (MPa) = -0.062â0.0972 VPD (kPa),
r2 = 0.78). A good correlation was found between soil
humidity and wb. However, more than the average value of
the whole thickness of soil monitored, the wb values were dependent on the distribution of soil humidity, with the
plants responding to the presence of wet layers
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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